Death of 100 pigs a mystery, pork off the menu

By ELIAS LARI
THE people of Nipa in Southern Highlands are warned not to touch, eat or sell any meat from pigs that have died there mysteriously.
The general public travelling to Hela has also been warned not to buy any pork sold at roadside markets.
Nipa Station Department of Primary Industries officer Justin Kiap has received confirmation of the death of more than 100 pigs.
“This is new and I cannot really tell what caused the deaths,” Kiap said.
Villagers at Nipa said the pigs died without showing any signs of sickness or diseases.
They are calling on the Department of Agriculture and Livestock or any other government department to send a team to Nipa to investigate.
The areas which have lost pigs are Egenda wards 1, 2, 3 and Shumbi ward 1 and 2.
The villagers are calling on the Nipa-Kutubu District Development Authority, the provincial government and the national government to help identify the cause of death.
Councillor Peter Hurum and local leader Pip Songuro said it was the first time people had seen pigs dying like that. They said they had never experienced or seen pigs dying in large numbers in the area before and it was a new case.
Former Nipa-Kutubu DDA chief executive Robin Pip confirmed the incident yesterday, saying he witnessed the deaths but could not tell the cause because it was happening everywhere.
He has called on ther authorities to investigate.