In Manshiyet Nasser, a shanty district east of Cairo, sat Aid Labib, a rubbish collector, among piles of used bottles, cans, plastic bags and rotten foods. In the corner, scores of rat-like pigs were combing the garbage to devour anything that is edible.

"They (the pigs) are my own fortune and I really depend on them, I don't know what can I do after slaughtering them all," said Labib in a desperate tone.

"There was a meeting between raisers and some government officials and they agreed on slaughtering all the pigs," he added.

"I'm afraid but this is the way I earn my living, all the pigs are healthy, I don't mind if they want to slaughter them but they have to compensate us," said Labib.

The Egyptian government decided last week to slaughter all pigs in the country immediately in an attempt to avert the outbreak of the fatal influenza A/H1N1, which has hit different parts of the world.

It is estimated that Egypt, about 90 percent of whose population are Muslims, has some 350,000 pigs.

But Dr. Ibrahim El-Bendary, Director of Preventive Medicine and in charge of influenza A/H1N1 in the ministry of agriculture, told Xinhua that Egypt has only about 156,000 pigs in about 1888 farms.

"The slaughter started in Cairo and Alexandria on Thursday," he added.

Egypt's controversial measure came while the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there was no evidence the animals were transmitting the flu to humans.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan also emphasized the safety of eating pork and pork products "if cooked properly."

"There's no reason why people who love to eat pork should stop eating now," she said. "Please continue, with due precautions and cook it well."

Meanwhile, Egyptian officials described the slaughter as a general health measure not only as a precaution.

Analysts say that the Egyptian authorities took the advantage of the disease to get rid of the badly managed rearing pigs.

The pigs mostly are eaten by foreign tourists and some members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority and are reared by rubbish collectors in Cairo's shanty towns.

"We wake up early in the morning to collect rubbish and what we earn from that is not enough to make living, the only way to improve our income is to raise some pigs," said Gerges Saber, another rubbish collector.

"We not only need compensation but also need the government's help to find other jobs," he added.

Egypt adopts tough measures to avert A/H1N1 flu as it is the most affected country by the deadly bird flu outside Asia and listed number three in the world, after Indonesia and Vietnam, according to WHO.

The Egyptian government has decided to establish an ad hoc committee to follow up the disease. The committee will supervise the production of face masks and carry out training in stock breeding, tourism and transportation sectors to intercept the virus.

Egyptian Health Minster Hatem al-Gabali announced on Thursday that the Egyptian authorities would close the airports and crossings if WHO declared the pandemic alert level to Phase 6.

The WHO on Wednesday raised the pandemic alert level to Phase 5indicating that a full pandemic is imminent. The WHO's pandemic alert system includes altogether six phases. Phase 6 is the highest level which means a full global pandemic is under way.

"Up till now there aren't suspected cases in Egypt," Hasasn Mohamed, director of Cairo airport quarantine department told Xinhua.

"We check every passenger comes from Mexico, not just the Mexicans. We take their contact details, names, addresses, to follow their health conditions," he added.

Countries around the world are tightening precautionary and preventive measures against the threat of A/H1N1 influenza, as the deadly virus is rapidly spreading across the globe.

Meanwhile, Israeli Health Ministry confirmed on Saturday the third case of A/H1N1 flu, the only Mideast country hit by the disease.

The first two Israelis that have tested positive for the virus since the global outbreak of A/H1N1, were released Friday from hospital upon treatment, Israeli health authorities said.

Earlier on Saturday, WHO said 15 countries have reported 615 infections with A/H1N1 virus.

The confirmed infections in Europe are Britain (13), Spain (13),Germany (4), Austria (1), Denmark (1), France (1), Netherlands (1)and Switzerland (1).

Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, now has 397 confirmed cases including 16 deaths, according to WHO.

The United States, the second-most affected country, has 141 confirmed cases including one death, said WHO.

Symptoms of A/H1N1 include a fever, coughing, joint aches, severe headache and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.

In Egypt, rubbish collectors say slaughtering the pigs would destroy their business and wipe out a crucial source of their slim income. That would be clearer in the days to come.

The government would compensate the owners of the pigs, El-Bendary confirmed, referring that the compensation amounts will be decided on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2009)