Doctors suspect a patient in the central province of Quang Ngai died due to consuming diseased pigs, said a health official on May 24.

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Men, deputy director of the Department of Health of the province, confirmed that a 37 year old man in the Quang Ngai City died on May 22. Quang Ngai province is one of the provinces stricken by “the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV)” also known as “Blue ear" disease in pigs.

The victim’s family said he ate pig blood curds on May 21. In the afternoon, he experienced fever, acute diarrhea and bleeding under the skin. He was rushed to Quang Ngai General Hospital for emergency treatment and was then transferred to the Central Hospital in Hue, where he died the next day.

The Quang Ngai Department of Health May 24 ordered the Department of Preventive Health to disinfect the patient’s house and the hospital where he was treated, as well as urged the Central Hospital in Hue to announce test results quickly, to confirm if the man in fact died of pig bacterium.

Source: local media - Translated by Huynh Hoa