Disaster has struck again for pig farmers in the East Riding who are battling to control an outbreak of a new disease capable of wiping out up to 20 per cent of their young stock.

Over the past two years pig farmers have struggled to survive through economic problems, swine fever, and foot and mouth disease.

Now they are threatened by a relatively new disease called Post-weening Multi-systemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS).

It is a wasting disease which leads to Porcine Dermatitis Nephrotic Syndrome (PDNS), and the two conditions in combination cause pigs aged between eight and twelve weeks to become weak and die.

Leading pig farmer, John Rowbottom, who farms at Melbourne, near Pocklington, has already lost up to 25 per cent of his young pigs. He says the new outbreak will spell the end for many in the industry.

He said: "The problem is growing all the time and there doesn't appear to be any way of stopping it.

"It will be the end for some farmers.

"It's come to the UK reasonably late and France have some ideas how to cope with it which is why they sent a French vet over last week to give us some advice.

"The advice suggests 20 different steps you can take which range from stepping up hygiene to less mixing of old and young pigs.

"But people are going out of business already and this will just be more people going out of business. It's potentially devastating."

Grant Burton, who farms at Wilberfoss, near York, said the disease appeared to bear some similarities to Blue Ear Disease, so called because it is characterised by a deficiency of blood to the ears, causing them to turn blue.

He said: "It's a major blow to the industry."

Ian Campbell, manager for Britain's regions for the National Pig Association (NPA) said: "Nobody really knows what this disease is.

"It was first recognised in Canada in 1991 and it has progressively spread on to different parts of the world. It appeared in France in 1996 and spread to the UK in 1998.

"It appeared in East Anglia and has been giving them problems for the past year or so and it's gradually migrating up the country and has now spread to East Yorkshire.

"People are beginning to understand how to manage it but nobody has yet managed to pin down a cause."

Updated: 09:12 Wednesday, June 20, 2001