Slaughter of pigs underway in Egypt

Per Thaindian News, Egyptian government officials have ordered the slaughter of all pigs within the country to occur within the next few days in hopes of stemming the spread of the swine flu virus. The swine flu has now spread to several countries and the WHO raised the pandemic alert to level 5 today.

Egyptian officials stated that all pigs would be examined to see if they carried the virus before they are killed. Egypt is 90 percent Muslim and the Islamic faith forbids the consumption of pork yet officials stressed that religion didn't influence their decision to cull the pigs.

Twitterers in Cairo had strong opinions about the decision.

1. 
   moftasa (Cairo, Egypt) It is pigs holocaust in Egypt :-( and it is not a necessary action. 29 Apr 2009 from web
2. 
   mar3e (Cairo, Egypt) @moftasa there is no any sceintific basic for killing pigs with out apperance of any infection 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to moftasa
3. 
   andrewheiss (Cairo, Egypt) Where are you going to sell the meat from half a million pigs? 29 Apr 2009 from twitterrific
4. 
   msfour (Cairo, Egypt) speculation that #swineflu and mass pig slaughter in egypt will be used as excuse to ban pigs http://tinyurl.com/c28pcx 29 Apr 2009 from web
5. 
   moftasa (Cairo, Egypt) Do you think slaughtering pigs in Egypt will prevent swine flu from entering through the Airport? http://tr.im/k2Oy 29 Apr 2009 from web
6. 
   Maggiemelba (Cairo, Egypt) Latest about the slaughter of pigs in Cairo- the government will compensate the farmers who's pigs will be slaughtered. otherwise, vaccine. 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

Slaughter of pigs underway in Egypt