Maryland agriculture officials have issued a health alert to nearly a dozen states warning about pigs that were under quarantine.
“Testing of some of the swine on the farm [and escaped pigs captured just outside the farm] were positive for several diseases of human health importance,” including trichinosis and toxoplasmosis, officials wrote in a letter dated Sept. 29.
The notice was issued to state veterinarians in Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
“All the pigs on the farm [approximately 102] are now missing,” it said. “We would appreciate it if you could make inquiries to livestock market operators in your state to determine if they may have received a consignment of pigs from Maryland sometime after September 18.”
Maryland agriculture officials said in the letter that the quarantine was imposed because the farm’s owner, Carroll Schisler Sr., was feeding raw garbage and meat scraps to the swine. The farm in western Carroll County has been under quarantine since spring.