Egypt culls pigs against swine flu.

28 Apr, 2009

The health ministry has ordered all pigs in the country to be culled as a precaution against swine influenza, which has killed over 150 people in Mexico and one person in the United States and spread to several other countries around the world. To date no cases have been reported in Egypt.

Pig farmers are said to be unhappy about the move, with workers at one farm north of Cairo reportedly refusing to comply with the government order. There are roughly 300,000-350,000 pigs in Egypt according to health ministry estimates, which are raised and consumed by the minority Christian population. The agriculture ministry has said farmers are free to sell the meat from the slaughtered animals and so will not need compensation, Associated Press reports.

The World Health Organisation has said Egypt