Fears of a highly contagious and deadly pig disease have prompted officials to cancel the World Pork Expo in Iowa this June.
has been spreading through China since August, and also is present in Europe and its namesake continent.
The National Pork Producers Council, which hosts the annual event in Des Moines, announced this week it would not be held this year because of the threat of a U.S. outbreak. It would be costly to the nation鈥檚 pork industry because export markets that farmers depend on would immediately close and many pigs would die.
However, Jim Monroe, spokesperson for the National Pork Producers Council, said it鈥檚 not likely the virus would arrive because of people at the World Pork Expo.
鈥淲e think that鈥檚 (a) very, very remote possibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 say it鈥檚 zero. So, we decided to exercise extreme caution and cancel the event his year.鈥�
Typically, 20,000 people from 40 countries visit Des Moines for the expo, which was supposed to be held June 5-7 this year.
Trina Flack with Catch Des Moines, the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the city鈥檚 tourism industry will lose about about $6.3 million this year.
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e fully supportive of National Pork Producers鈥� decision and understand the spot that they were in,鈥� Flack said. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 bigger than one week of tourism.鈥�
Flack added that a swine show that鈥檚 held at the same time will still go on and the 2020 World Pork Expo is expected to be held as planned.
African swine fever has been in Vietnam and South Africa and is now in nearly every region of mainland China. It鈥檚 also in Romania, Russia and Belgium, among other European countries. It is not present in North America.
This story has been corrected to show that Flack works with Catch Des Moines, not the Greater Des Moines Partnership.
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