Mysterious Disease Kills At Least 17 In Southwest China

CHENGDU, CHINA - JULY 25: (CHINA OUT) Pigs are seen at the Zuqiao Slaughterhouse on July 25, 2005 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province, southwest China. Sichuan provincial health department officials denied a strange disease, that has killed at least 17 people in the province, is SARS or bird flu and said it was likely bacteria spread among pigs. An initial 20 farm workers who handled sick or dead pigs and sheep in Jianyang, Yanjiang Counties of Ziyang, suffered from high fever, nausea, vomiting and haemorrhaging in late June. Now totally 58 cases are reported in Ziyang and neighboring Neijiang City, with 17 killed, 12 in a critical condition since June 24. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)