The death toll in an outbreak of pig-borne disease in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan has risen to 24, with another 117 thought be sick, state media reported today.
Victims were being treated with antibiotics, but with the death toll mounting doctors said that approach was unsatisfactory.
"The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting drug sensitivity tests to find a more effective treatment," Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an said.
Laboratory tests showed the affected people were suffering from streptococcus suisinfections contracted from the slaughtering or handling of infected pigs.
The bacteria is endemic in swine in most pig-rearing countries in the world but human infections are rare. Although state media has said no human-to-human infections had been found in the Sichuan outbreak, the death toll is unusually high.
The Sichuan mortality rate stands at 17 per cent so far, higher than the usual 10 per cent, experts in Hong Kong said.
The disease can be prevented if people refrain from slaughtering, processing or eating infected pigs.
China was also working on a vaccine to protect pigs from the disease, he said.
Sichuan authorities suspended exports of chilled and frozen pork to Hong Kong yesterday, a Hong Kong government spokeswoman said. The city imported 30,000 tonnes of chilled and frozen pork from Sichuan last year.
Initially, 20 farm workers suffered fever, nausea and hemorrhaging after handling sick or dead pigs and sheep in 12 towns and 15 villages in Sichuan province. More cases were reported as health workers combed villages for ill people.
The Chinese government has launched campaigns to slaughter infected pigs and investigate small farms with poor sanitation standards.