Pork is taboo for Muslims as stated in the Quran. In Egypt, which is a Muslim dominatd country, authorities have made a decision to slaughter all pigs in their country which will likely hurt the livelyhood of non-Muslims.
No cases of swine flu has been reported in Egypt and furthermore eating pork does not transmit the disease.
And finally, the swine flu is not really the swine flu but H1N1 according to U.S. officials.
"Egypt's lower house of parliament called on Tuesday for the nation's 250,000 pigs to be killed immediately because of fears over the spread of swine flu, state news agency MENA reported.
"The People's Assembly urged the government to immediately start culling pigs and not to relocate pig-breeding farms away from residential areas for fear of the spread of swine flu," MENA said.
Egypt's 80-million population consists mainly of Muslims, whose religion forbids them from eating pork, as well as an estimated six to 10 percent Christian Copts who may eat pig meat.
Egypt's pigs are mainly raised on the streets of Cairo districts inhabited by Christian rubbish collectors and recyclers. Egyptian authorities have called repeatedly for the pigs to be relocated to a site south of Cairo.
I heard about this on NPR this morning. Talk about using a broadsword when only a scalpel is needed.
Posted by: Dave | April 30, 2009 at 10:49 AM