By Ryan Luikens By Ryan Luikens By Ryan Luikens Father Sama’an Ibrahim says friction between the government and zabaleen goes a long way back. By Ryan Luikens By Ryan Luikens Kameel El-Nadi says his butcher shop in Shubra is already losing business. By Ryan Luikens

By Jessica Gray

Shrill squeals fill the air as dozens of pigs are dumped into the back of a waiting truck. The live cargo stomp in panic, crushing piglets caught underfoot. Sows, with no room to breath, begin to suffocate. More pigs join the fray, each dropping from the bulldozer’s upturned bucket with a dull thud until the truck bed is impossibly full. Only then does it rumble to life, joining the convoy of ‘pig trucks’ destined for the desert outskirts of Cairo. There, laborers wearing medical masks and gloves throw the pigs into shallow sandpits where they are buried alive, their terrified squeals finally silenced.

The shocking scene, caught on film by local media, has become a familiar one for the nation’s Coptic pig farmers known as the zabaleen, or garbage collectors. On April 29, Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali ordered the slaughter of Egypt’s entire pig herd, which numbered an estimated 350,000–500,000 before the cull, in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel A(H1N1) virus, quickly dubbed ‘swine flu.’

The decision was met with harsh criticism by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Coptic leaders, who questioned the government’s decision in light of the fact that no cases of swine flu have been found in Egypt’s human or pig population since the virus emerged in Mexico two months ago. H1N1 is responsible for over 90 deaths around the world.

The Ministry of Health and Population has since admitted there is no connection between swine flu and the decision to exterminate Egypt’s pigs. It is now marketing the move as an attempt to clean up the pork industry, viewed as a potential health hazard by the populous at large. A large percentage of the pig farms in Egypt are found in the nation’s eight or so infamous ‘garbage cities’ where the zabaleen eke out a living reselling plastics, paper and other reusable materials.

Few overhead costs and virtually free pig fodder from the readily available organic waste made pork a profitable niche market serving the nation’s foreign and Christian communities. But the sector has long-faced stigma from Egypt’s Muslim population, many of whom believe pigs are diseased and ‘unclean.’

Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Abdel Rahman Shahin acknowledges there is no evidence linking pigs and the H1N1 virus, which has so far only been detected in humans.

“We know from the scientific point of view that we don’t have a real threat from the pigs now; the real threat is going to be spread from human to human. However, the government was really responding to the recommendation of [a government committee] in 2006. [] So the decision was taken to slaughter them now, get rid of the current population of pigs and then, in parallel, to build new farms in a desert area [away from the population].”

Shahin denies there are religious motives for the cull. However, the government’s claim has not defused tension in the Coptic community, with residents wondering if the government is using the flu as a convenient excuse to undermine their rights and force Copts, who comprise roughly 10% of the population, out of business.

Despite the LE 50 million earmarked by the Ministry of Agriculture for compensation, riots erupted almost immediately upon announcement of the cull, as angry pig farmers took to the streets north of the capital. There are conflicting reports as to how many pigs have been killed so far, ranging from the entire population to approximately 50% of the total herd.

This is not the first time the government has ordered the slaughter of livestock. In 2006, more than 25 million chickens were killed to halt the spread of the H5N1 (avian flu) virus that cost the poultry industry LE 2 billion in losses. Egypt’s government was heavily criticized for not acting quickly enough when avian flu struck, killing at least 26 people and infecting almost 80 others since the first confirmed case of the deadly virus in February 2006. Chicken farming has since rebounded and is now worth LE 20 billion. There is little hope the pork industry will do the same, say pig farmers.

Manshiet Nasser is Egypt’s largest garbage city. Inside its narrow streets, residents, their fingers stained black with grime, tear at the bloated edges of plastic garbage bags. Rifling through the contents, they ignore fast food wrappers, crumpled milk boxes and plastic bottle tops, intent instead on the rotting fruit, dried fuul and dinner scraps they need to feed the pigs that have not been confiscated or slaughtered. Forced to give up a livelihood that supplies half of an average income of LE 1,500 per month, farmers here are afraid the government is using the threat of a new influenza outbreak to force Copts out of their community.

“I cannot go find other work; I had surgery on my heart. What else can I do?” asks Manshiet Nasser pig farmer Ibrahim Israel Awad. Standing next to a pig pen, he and a group of disgruntled farmers discuss the culling in heated tones. Their consensus is clear, he says: “If we stop [raising pigs] and recycling projects, we will lose a lot.”

Figures from the Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE), an NGO that works directly with the zabaleen, estimate there are 70,000 such workers throughout Egypt. Before the cull, there was at least one pig for every Manshiet Nasser resident, says Bekhit Rizk, a former pig farmer himself who now works for APE. The number remaining is impossible to estimate, he adds.

Rizk says his organization is concerned that taking away the pigs will damage the zabaleen community irreversibly. “Our main concern now is what the garbage collectors will do after losing their pigs. Where would they work? They are willing to move somewhere else but they cannot just totally stop raising pigs,” he says. “We feel we are discriminated against, because all the people working in this industry, farmers, garbage collectors or pork butchers, are Copts. [Muslims] have always wanted to get rid of the pigs in Egypt and now it is their chance to do it and end this business of pig farming.”

Globally, the pork industry produced 101 million tons of meat in 2007. No one knows just how much pork is produced and sold in Egypt every year and that makes it difficult to predict how the government’s decision will affect the economy, says Chamber of Food Industries chairman Tarek Tawfik.

“To be honest with you, I have no idea how large the pork industry business is. This is new to us. This is a very niche market. It’s mostly confined to the garbage collectors that are traditionally the growers of pigs,” he says.

For butchers and specialty pork retailers, the effects are clear. Without pork to sell, they will be forced to close down. German national Johann Christ owns a meat processing factory and catering company that sells specialty meat products to foreigners and Egyptian Christians. Last year, Christ had a turnover of LE 300,000, and while 2009 started out well, he hasn’t received any orders since the beginning of May. Christ blames the media and not swine flu for what he calls a skewed portrayal of pig farming in Egypt. According to him, not all farms feed their stock an exclusive diet of organic refuse.

“All my customers think all pigs in Egypt eat only rubbish. This is simply not true. [] The pigs I use only eat dry feed made of vegetables and food from hotels and restaurants. We always have very nice meat,” says Christ of the two farms where he sources his meat, one in Kattameya and another in Fifteenth of May City. The practice of feeding pigs leftover food from restaurants is similar to that in the United States.

Christ says he is worried about what will happen to his business, which is reliant on sales of German sausage made from pork. At press time, the pork producer only has two to three months worth of product he can sell, which means he’ll have no choice but to close if the culling does not stop. Already, he says, his business partner’s farm in Fifteenth of May City has gone out of business after police blockaded the area and poisoned the 5,000-strong herd.

The Ministry of Agriculture promised owners LE 50 for pigs under five months of age, LE 250 for sows and LE 100 for the rest. Farmers say it’s not much, considering they used to get LE 5 per kilogram of pork meat. Pigs average between 90–109 kilograms, which would make a small pig worth about LE 450. Whether farmers are being reimbursed fairly has also been questioned. Reports are surfacing of farmers claiming they have received much less than the promised LE 50, or are not getting any compensation at all. No money, however, has been set aside for specialty pork meat retailers.

On a quiet street in Shubra, butcher Kameel El-Nadi stares into empty meat refrigerators that line the side of the Om El-Nour shop where he works. He says the modest stall, which only sold pork, has already lost LE 40,000. El-Nadi is afraid he’ll lose his job soon now that customers are avoiding pork at the government’s behest. He says it would be impossible to start offering poultry or beef because the shop has already been tainted by “swine flu stigma.” Even his neighbor, a fellow Copt who sells electronics, has complained about fewer customers due to the stall’s proximity to the pork butcher.

On May 13, some of Egypt’s well-known pork merchants, including Morcos Charcuteries, asked President Hosni Mubarak to stop the cull, saying it is ruining their businesses in an open letter published in Al-Dostour newspaper. El-Nadi says he supports their efforts, but does not think the retailers’ pleas are enough to save the dying industry.

“A large number of people are refusing to buy pork since the government’s decision to slaughter all the pigs. Only a few understand that there’s no harm in eating pork,” he says. “The media has turned against us badly. I still don’t understand why they are making a big fuss about it.” WHO released a joint statement with the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health in April saying that strains of influenza could not be passed on by eating meat cooked thoroughly at temperatures of 70C (160F) or more.

In fact, the term swine flu is a misnomer, according to the WHO’s special advisor on communicable disease control, Dr. Zuhair Hallaj. H1N1 contains genetic material from a strain of human influenza, one from avian influenza and two more from swine influenza. The lethal virus cocktail present in the young Mexican boy believed to be the source of H1N1 mutated and exchanged DNA, creating a completely new virus to which humans do not yet have immunity.

“Because it is new, we don’t have any immunity to novel H1N1. We are all susceptible. The origin of new influenza viruses is due to mutation and re-assortment that is known to happen. We were expecting that the H5N1 might adapt itself or mutate to become the next virus for the pandemic,” Hallaj says.

But restaurants in the capital aren’t taking any chances and have stopped purchasing pork from butchers. Buo Khao Thai Restaurant, with nine locations in Cairo, stopped selling pork almost immediately after the government handed down its decision. “The government issued recommendations saying we should not sell pork,” says Owner Yuphadee Sawamiwast. “We explain to [our customers] why we’re doing this and then offer an alternate suggestion when they ask for pork.”

Maison Thomas, known for its selection of pork deli products and pizza toppings, no longer offers pork items, such as premium ham for LE 70 per kilogram. “The factories stopped production and didn’t send us any,” says Hany Anour, a shift manager at the Zamalek branch. Though pork wasn’t the best selling item in the deli, it was popular with foreigners. Neither restaurant expects to lose money now that they don’t sell pork.

Despite restaurants’ decision to stop buying pig meat, there are still a few butchers willing to offer it until there’s none left on the market. Protein Market, a small butcher on Maadi’s Road 9, is one of them. Reluctant to speak to bt, the manager refused to give her name, but said her shop had lots of pork products and wouldn’t stop selling them until forced to by the authorities.

According to Shahin, the government is in talks with the governorate of Helwan to move the farmers, without their pigs, to a site in the desert surrounding Fifteenth of May City. Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, the governorate will provide the infrastructure, water and electricity for farmers who want to revitalize the industry, while adhering to international farming standards. There is, however, no timeline set for the project, a fact that makes the zabaleen nervous. Father Sama’an Ibrahim, pastor of Saint Sama’an Church and Monastery in Manshiet Nasser says the zabaleen are afraid to believe the government’s promises after a series of failed attempts to move the farms away from Cairo’s densely populated streets in recent years.

“We filed [a] request [...] in 1999 to move to Kattameya when it was deserted. We finally got approval and actually moved 75 farms there and then the government removed all the farms again[...] saying that the land had been deemed a natural reserve,” he says.

Manshiet Nasser residents tried again a year ago, filing paperwork to build a complex along the Suez road. Ibrahim says they have not received a response from authorities as of yet, in spite of the government’s insistence that farming should not be practiced where people live after the outbreak of avian influenza.

Isaac Mikhail, director of the Association of Garbage Collectors for Community Development, says representatives from the government have spoken to community members about the possibility of moving their farms and garbage collection sites somewhere else. Though residents are open to the suggestion, few may be able to afford to start over. “We met with the officials and they said that they will only move farmers and merchants who have facilities, like cars, and can afford to go back and forth,” says Mikhail.

Having to finance the relocation and travel themselves means resettlement will not be an option for pig farmers that don’t have revenue from pig meat sales to fund the enterprise, says recycler Shehata Atta Ateit Allah. “Farmers here sell pigs or plastic whenever they need money, so if a farmer has a daughter that is getting married, he would sell a pig to get money and buy everything she needs. Now they are saying we need to get jobs that will pay us LE 400 a month. I’m 42-years-old and I cannot just go start working for a company now,” says Ateit Allah. He also wonders what will happen to the zabaleen now that they don’t have pigs to eat the organic waste.

Egypt produces around 9.1 trillion tons of municipal solid waste every year, equivalent to 25,000 tons daily. According to estimates, Tawfik says Egypt’s pigs reduced that number by 6,000 tons. The association estimates that the zabaleen in Manshiet Nasser receive 8,000 tons of garbage daily. Around 60% of the refuse is organic waste. Mikhail says the pigs used to consume around a third of the organic waste. Now, it’s just piling up, creating even worse conditions in the garbage cities.

The zabaleen are pessimistic about their future. Most are unsure how they will continue to make ends meet or protect their jobs as garbage collectors if the government forces them to move. The issue, they say, is that the majority of Egyptians think the country would be better off without the pork industry. “This problem has been talked about for a number of years now, ” says Tawfik. “The reason why is the way they bring up the pigs. The hygiene standards are very low. [] There is no control on their diet or the quality of the pigs themselves, hygienically. The way they grow pigs over here is very primitive.”

A ccording to a World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin on May 26, nearly 13,000 cases of A H1N1 influenza, more commonly known as swine flu, have been confirmed in 46 countries around the world. Though Egypt is not among the nations reporting the virus, the Ministry of Health (MOH) did not waste any time implementing its epidemic preparedness plan, first drafted to combat a possible avian influenza epidemic.

Teams have been set up at the nation’s airports and border crossings to check incoming visitors for influenza symptoms, which include fever, coughing and respiratory illness. Those exhibiting possible symptoms are immediately transported to the nearest medical facility for testing. In conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism, the Health Ministry has also held training sessions for EgyptAir staff and local tour leaders in case a suspected case is discovered during flight or trips within Egypt.

The government has also set up an influenza hotline. Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Abdel Rahman Shahin says there have been several suspected cases — confined to tourists visiting from abroad — since swine flu was first confirmed in Mexico two months ago. Health authorities are asking visitors to fill out medical checkup cards that they are using to keep track of tourists and their health via follow up calls. The ministries are in regular contact, says Shahin, sharing information and sending updates to a network of doctors serving hotels and tourist hotspots.

The Health Ministry is also recommending residents and visitors frequently wash their hands with warm water and soap and avoid anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms. It also recommends that people avoid praying in enclosed or crowded places. Should an outbreak occur, Shahin says the hospitals are ready with anti-viral Tamiflu medication. The country currently has 2.5 million doses, which is set to increase to 5 million in the coming months.

The H1N1 virus was first discovered in Mexico City in March, however, the Center for Disease Control did not confirm that a new strain of influenza had appeared until April. The virus is made up of four influenza strains: one found in humans, another in birds and two in pigs. Dr. Zuhair Hallaj, a WHO special advisor on communicable disease control, says the four viruses exchanged genetic material to form a new virus to which humans have no immunity. Tracking the outbreak, the WHO raised its pandemic threat alert level to five, one step below an official pandemic. The Egyptian government accused the WHO of inciting panic by raising the threat level, but Hallaj says it was necessary based on the organization’s definitions of the spread of the virus.

The government’s goal is to prevent an outbreak similar to avian influenza (H5N1), which is now considered endemic in Egypt. Since the outbreak was first detected in February 2006, 27 people have died and another 74 have been infected. May has been a particularly active month for H5N1. The WHO has confirmed that four children under the age of five were diagnosed within a week of each other and are being treated in hospitals. A fifth child was also diagnosed and died May 18. All were reportedly exposed to sick or dead poultry. Bird flu first appeared in Asia in 2003. bt

­Additional reporting by Lamia Hassan