Home-kill pigs get the blame

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

A second person is believed to have caught a rare and potentially fatal disease from home-killed pigs.

A man suffering back pain and fever spent three weeks off-and-on in Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland this year. Now a woman with similar symptoms is having tests.

Agriculture officials have started testing pigs at 20 farms in Auckland and Waikato to see if there is an outbreak of the disease brucella suis.

Doctors think the man, now slowly recovering on antibiotics, was infected by the bacterium brucella suis when helping to butcher two home-killed pigs.

It is a difficult disease to diagnose and his blood samples have been sent overseas for confirmation.

Thirty-six people who slaughtered or butchered pigs at home in December, or who ate the meat from them, have been checked for brucellosis.

Several people had returned preliminary positives but further tests were needed, an Auckland health official said yesterday.

The infection can be treated with antibiotics, but can make people feel unwell for months. Symptoms include fever, headaches, joint pain, weight loss and depression.Martin Johnston

Mr Belton said that once MAF had evidence of infection of pig herds, the wording of certificates now stating New Zealand's brucella-free status would have to be re-negotiated.

Dr Simmons said cooking pork thoroughly made it safe to eat.

But the infected man's case highlighted the need for precautions against infection when slaughtering and butchering animals, such as protecting cuts with watertight dressings and minimising exposure to pig body fluids.