Germany kills hundreds of pigs as dioxin troubles spread

German authorities ordered hundreds of pigs slaughtered after tests at one farm showed the animals had elevated levels of dioxin in their systems.

This is the first instance of evidence that the contamination has spread beyond poultry and eggs, according to authorities, who had already halted pork sales as a precaution when the contamination was first discovered. "We were specifically investigating this farm because they had bought their livestock feed from Harles & Jentzsch, the company that delivered tainted feed to all the other farms that had to be banned," said Lower Saxony's Agriculture Minister Gert Hahne.

The investigation into both Harles & Jentzsch and potentially infected farms continues, with 558 of the original 4,700 targeted farms remaining closed.

German pork and poultry banned by Korea – dioxin cited

There are no longer imports of pork and poultry from Germany to Korea. The Korean government has banned imports from Germany, citing high levels of cancer causing dioxin in animal feed as the reason for the ban.

Korean officials have stated that German meat products are currently quarantined, until further inspections are carried out.

GMP+ International has suspended the GMP+ certificate of the business Harles und Jentzsch GmbH in Uetersen in Germany as of January 6, 2011. Abnormally high levels of the contaminant dioxin were found in agricultural products made by the German company. The company manufactures ingredients for poultry and swine feed.

Russia has also been affected by the dioxin scandal; the country is restricting meats imported from Germany.

Avian Influenza in South Korea spreading across the country

South Korea has confirmed its first bird flu outbreak in the Gyeonggi region near Seoul making it the first case to be reported in the province surrounding the capital city in nearly three years.

The farm ministry said a duck farm in Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, tested positive for the virulent strain of the H5N1 avian influenza after birds started dying off over the weekend. Concerns are now being raised that the highly contagious disease is spreading across the country despite quarantine efforts.

"All 32,000 ducks on the (Anseong) farm have already been ordered destroyed on Sunday as a precautionary measure, with 55,000 other birds within a 500-meter radius to be culled," an official said.

He said other birds within a 10-kilometer area of the poultry farm will be barred from being sold on the market or moved, while front-line inspectors will carefully monitor birds for sharp hikes in sudden deaths and drops in egg production.

The Anseong outbreak is the ninth confirmed in the country this winter after the first bird flu cases were confirmed by quarantine authorities on Dec. 31. Latest figures from the ministry confirm that 194,600 birds have been culled at infected farms, with many more being destroyed to prevent the spread of the bird flu.

The Philippines eyes poultry growth target

The Phillipine government expects the value of poultry production to hit or even exceed the official growth target of 2% for 2010, with the first three quarters already recording a 3% increase before the seasonal boost in the last three months of the year.

"Given the growth of [local poultry production] in the nine months [that ended in September] and a surge in demand for the product in the fourth quarter because of the holiday season, we expect it to register a two per cent growth or even exceed it," Bureau of Animal Industry director, Efren C. Nuestro, said in an interview with Business World.

In the nine months to September, poultry production grew 3.01% to 36.69 billion pesos (PHP) from the same period last year, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show.

"A two per cent or even a three per cent growth can be easily achieved. We have a lot of chicken supply at present. If the sub-sector already grew by three per cent in the [nine months to September], it can easily sustain this until the end of the year," said Elias Jose M. Inciong, executive vice-president of the Union of Broilers and Raisers Association.

South Korea suffers bird flu outbreak

South Korea has confirmed the first outbreak of bird flu since May 2008 and more than 100,000 birds have been slaughtered as authorities try to contain its spread.
Health authorities have stepped up inspections of wild birds and urged poultry businesses to take extra precautions such as erecting nets around their farms to keep wild birds out.

South Korea has been hit by avian influenza three times, with the last outbreak in April 2008.

Meanwhile, the country is experiencing a major outbreak of foot and mouth disease. More than 660,000 cattle, pigs and other cloven-hoofed animals have been or will be soon slaughtered, with related losses estimated at more than 400 billion won (350 million dollars).