BAHA and the Ministry of Health report tonight that Guatemala is experiencing a major outbreak classical swine fever. Now first off, this only affects pigs, and, second, Belize is considered free of this disease.
But in Guatemala, the outbreak has led to the disposal of over 7,000 pigs.
And that's why BAHA and the Ministry of Agriculture are not taking any chances.
According to the release, these organizations are taking necessary precautionary steps, such as movement control and 24 hours inspection and surveillance at the Western Border and other high-risk areas.
In addition to these measures, live pigs and pork products from Guatemala will be prohibited.
In order to diminish modes of the disease's transmission, BAHA and the Ministry of Health are advising the public not to feed table scraps containing meat to pigs.
The public is asked to contact BAHA if they see any odd signs of health changes with pigs grown in Belize.
