Egypt Regrets Slaughter

Last spring, the global community found itself in hysterics over the H1N1—dubbed “swine flu”—virus. While the infection can only be passed from human to human, much fear was associated with pigs, especially in Egypt, where the government mandated that all the country’s pigs be slaughtered. Intended as a preventative measure, public health experts predicted that the slaughter would lead to nasty repercussions. The New York Times is reporting this week that the streets of Egypt are teeming with trash because the pigs who used to feed on organic waste are now absent. State officials in Cairo have since recognized how unnecessary and debilitating the slaughter was.