Cambodia creates blue-ear pig disease "contamination zones" after outbreak

The Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday established blue-ear pig disease contamination zones in five villages in four districts of Siem Reap province after the disease has killed over 1,200 pigs in those villages.

"The Department of Animal Health and Production has to spray disinfectants at pig farms, where the disease broke out," Agriculture Minister Ouk Rabon said in a directive. "Selling, buying or transporting pigs in or out of a 1-km radius from the outbreak epicenters is temporarily prohibited."

He added that those areas should be protected, monitored, and researched for 30 days.

The directive was issued after blue-ear pig disease, also called Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), has taken the lives of more than 1,200 pigs while infecting some 3,200 more in northwestern Cambodia's Siem Reap province since mid- August.

The disease reoccurred after a six-year disappearance. Unlike bird flu or H1N1, blue-ear pig disease doesn't directly infect humans; however, tainted meat may cause health problems if people eat it. Endi