Victor Yamo, Farming Campaigns Manager at World Animal Protection, African Office said that rearing pigs in poorly ventilated enclosures has fuelled the spread of pathogens besides diluting the quality of pork.
“Factory pig farms have not performed well in terms of hygiene standards and air quality, thereby exposing consumers of pork to the risk of contamination,” Yamo said during the launch of a study on the relationship between pork quality and adherence to pig welfare.
According to the study carried out by World Animal Protection, Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute and the University of Nairobi, poor handling and transportation of pigs had fuelled respiratory infections like pneumonia and injuries that compromised the quality of pork sold in retail outlets.
The study indicates that 52.02 percent of pigs were kept for more than 24 hours before slaughter after their purchase, thereby exposing them to stressful conditions that were a threat to the quality of pork they produced.
At the same time, transporting pigs using motorcycles and open vans worsened their vulnerability to heat stress.
Yamo said that excessive use of antibiotics and growth enhancers in commercial pig farms had worsened the risk of resistance to pathogens besides environmental pollution.
