- China believes the mystery illness that has killed 19
farmers in western China is streptococcus suis, a disease common in pigs.
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- China's health ministry said people had contracted the
disease by slaughtering and processing infected pigs.
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- Sixty-seven confirmed cases and 13 suspected cases of
the disease had been reported as of noon on Sunday, it said.
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- The WHO noted the "disconcertingly high mortality
rate" and said it was keeping a close watch on the situation.
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- "According to research and lab test results, experts
believe the disease is caused by streptococcus suis," the health ministry
said in a statement.
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- The symptoms include high fever, nausea and haemorrhaging.
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- The latest infections were spread throughout 75 villages
and 40 towns near the cities of Ziyang and Neijiang, the health ministry
said.
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- The number of people infected with the illness has risen
steadily as health officials searched through remote villages in the province
for people with symptoms.
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- WHO alarm
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- "We are looking at not just a bacteria being active
in one herd of pigs, but over a fairly wide area," said Bob Dietz,
a spokesman for the World Health Organization's regional office in Manila.
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- "We see this as a serious situation which bears
close monitoring," Mr Dietz said.
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- In Hong Kong, health officials warned hospitals to look
out for similar symptoms and banned the import of pork from Sichuan.
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- Correspondents say the territory has been wary of diseases
spreading from mainland China since the outbreak of the acute respiratory
disease Sars, which killed nearly 300 people there in 2003.
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- © BBC MMV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4717521.stm
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