The government's plan to destroy all of Egypt's pigs led to fierce protest from the country's predominately Christian pig farmers. The measure is an attempt by the Egyptian government to prevent Mexican flu from breaking out in Egypt. The country is still dealing with cases of Avian flu.
By "them" he means the veterinary authorities who came four days ago to inspect the pig farms. They will return with riot police to destroy the pigs tomorrow. But Peter does not expect any new confrontations to take place. "We have given up. They'll win regardless."
Fighting
Elsewhere in Egypt, the last few days have seen heavy fighting breaking out between the pig farmers and riot police. On Sunday, police used tear gas and allegedly fired rubber bullets in an attempt to break up a demonstration by farmers.
The government's decision to destroy Egypt's estimated 300,000 pigs has led to fierce protest from pig farmers. They see it as yet another form of discrimination against the Coptic Orthodox Christian community, which accounts for approximately 10% of Egypt's population.
Egypt's Muslim majority is strongly in favour of the cull as pigs are viewed by Muslims as unclean animals. Imams on television are appealing to the government to completely ban the keeping of pigs once and for all.
All pigs in Egypt must be destroyed within three weeks. The government has set aside 4 million euros in compensation money.
It is unclear, however, how the money will be paid out, making pig farmers wonder if it they will receive compensation at all.
The government has disregarded the wish of many Egyptian Muslims to ban pig farming in the future. The Ministry of Agriculture has announced that in two years, land for new pig farms will be allocated outside of the city, at the edge of the desert.
The World Health Organisation has criticised the pig cull in Egypt. There have been no cases of Mexican flu in Egypt as yet. Moreover, there is no evidence showing that pigs can transmit the virus to humans, making a cull unnecessary.
Avian flu
It seems that the Egyptian government, however, does not want to leave anything to chance. Two years ago, the government responded too slowly to an outbreak of avian flu which, in turn, led to the spread of the virus - a virus they are still combating to this day.
Three new avian flu fatalities have been reported in the past month. In total, 26 people have died from avian flu, making Egypt the hardest hit country outside of Asia.
For the time being, avian flu (H5N1) is a bigger problem in Egypt than Mexican flu (H1N1). Although officially banned, people are still keeping chickens, ducks, geese and pigeons in populated areas, in both rural and urban areas. It is mostly young women who feed the fowl, that contract the disease.
Hygiene
The Egyptian government says the slaughter of the country's pigs is not only a preventative measure against Mexican flu, but also a more general health safety measure. "Mexican flu is a good reason to stop the very unhygienic conditions in densely populated areas", said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population.
Most pig farms are located on the rubbish heaps of Egypt's shantytowns, which is why they are often seen as hotbeds of disease.
Rubbish heaps
The current system allows for the recycling of much of Egypt's organic waste. Entire families work on the rubbish heaps, picking out the organic waste to feed to the pigs. The pig farmers predict that the culling of pigs will lead to an accumulation of rotting refuse. "I won't collect rubbish any longer if I can't feed it to the pigs", says 15-year-old Bishoi, as he lets a large bag of rubbish fall from his donkey cart to the ground. "What am I supposed to do with it?"
RNW Translation (sr)
Tags: avian flu, Coptic Orthodox Christians, Egypt, mexican flu, Muslims, pigs, swine flu, World Health Organisation
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