NEW YORK, May 31 (RIA Novosti) – US agricultural officials have said that American pork is “safe to eat” and that trade talks with Russia are ongoing, following Moscow’s decision to suspend hog imports over virus fears.
Russia said last Thursday that it was suspending hog imports from the US over concerns about outbreaks of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PED) killing piglets. The suspension came into effect last Friday.
Abby Yigzaw, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) spokesperson, told RIA Novosti that US experts had confirmed the presence of PED in the US last year but said that it cannot be transferred to humans.
“PED is not a zoonotic disease,” Yigzaw said, referring to conditions that can pass from animals to humans. “It does not affect people, pets or other animals. Nor is PED a food safety concern. US pork is safe to eat.”
China and Japan also have restricted imports of live US hogs over the highly contagious disease that has wiped out some 10 per cent of the US hog population since it was identified in May last year.
Yigzaw said that “correspondence with our counterparts in Russia” continues and that the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is “working closely with interested trading partners on the presence of PED virus in the US”.
“USDA is committed to building upon the strong relationships we have with our trading partners and discussing transparently information on PED virus in the US and steps towards mitigating trans-boundary disease spread,” Yigzaw told RIA Novosti.
