Flu Fears Costs Pork Industry $2.5 Million a Day

The National Pork Producers Council has called for accurate reporting on the recent influenza outbreak, adding the U.S. pork industry is nearing the brink of financial disaster.

DES MOINES, IOWA — The National Pork Producers Council has called for accurate reporting on the recent influenza outbreak, adding the U.S. pork industry is nearing the brink of financial disaster. All employed in the pork industry must address influenza outbreak misinformation, which already has exacerbated an economic crisis in the pork industry, N.P.P.C. said.

Incorrect reporting of the H1N1 flu as "swine" flu has compounded the economic squeeze the U.S. pork industry has experienced during the past 19 months, when producers lost an average of $20 per hog, N.P.P.C. continued. Producers have lost another $6 per pig, with average hog prices falling from $124 a head on April 24 to $118 on April 28, since the flu outbreak became a major news story. This decline has cost the industry approximately $2.5 million a day, N.P.P.C. relayed.

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