Yesterday, Zhejiang Province agriculture authorities reported that the pigs might have died due to last month’s cold weather.
By yesterday evening, workers from the Shanghai City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation Administration had removed more than 2,800 pigs’ carcasses from the Huangpu River.
The Shanghai Municipal Agricultural Commission was commissioned to test randomly picked carcasses in search of diseases and virus. Five carcasses were tested, and only one tested positive for porcine circovirus, which can be deadly for pigs but is harmless for humans.
Authorities haven’t been able to locate the exact point of origin of the pigs.
"The ear tags were vague, and some were scratched up because farmers know that it is illegal to dump dead pigs in the water. It will take time to figure out their source," a press officer surnamed Mo from the Pinghu city government told the Global Times.
