Well just in case you missed this whopper of a story the Shanghai Daily along with papers like the Wall Street Journal etc reported 3,300 dead pigs were found floating or washed up on the banks of the Huangpu River just a mile or so upstream from Shanghai.Shanghai officials said "they had found no health threat to the city's water supply after the 3,300 pig carcasses were found in the river". A spokeswoman did admit one city waterworks plant was taking extra precautions in its treatment of water for tap usage. Authorities said one test they conducted on the water found a pig-borne disease called porcine circovirus, which doesn't normally affect humans. I guess "normally" is the key operative word here.
According to the story in the WSJ, floating pigs aren't Shanghai's only water-pollution problem this year. Residents near where pigs were being pulled from the river went days in January without tap water when a chemical transporter leaked benzene into a Huangpu River tributary. More than 20 people were hospitalized in the incident.
Theresa and I along with every other expat in the city drinks bottled water but sometimes you look at the bottled water and say "I wonder where that comes from/". Suffice to say we are both happy and healthy and continuing to enjoy life in Asia even with a few blips like 3,300 dead pigs floating in the river just upstream from our apartment.
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