Reported AIDS in pigs, chickens denied

BANGKOK, May 5 (TNA) -- The Department of Livestock Development asks people to stop forwarding any message about AIDS in pigs and chickens, saying the false information dated from 2008 and would only damage farmers. Dr Sorawit Thaneto, deputy director-general of the department, said on Thursday that social media were conveying a warning for consumers to stop eating pork and chicken with a claim that pigs and chickens in Nakhon Pahtom province were infected with AIDS. He said that the message had emerged in social media in 2008 and re-emerged in 2014. He insisted that AIDS had never appeared in pigs and chickens and Thai pig and poultry production always met international standard. “AIDS in pigs and chickens is an old and false story and it should not be shared any longer. Otherwise, a lot of farmers would be affected… Sharing of false information violates the Computer Act and is liable to a fine and imprisonment,” Dr Sorawit said. He assured that animal farms and slaughterhouses nationwide met the standard of his department and its officials kept checking their operations. His department also worked with health authorities to watch out for disease outbreaks in humans and animals and did not find any unusual outbreak, Dr Sorawit said. (TNA)