Two weeks on and still no answers on source of dead pigs found in Shanghai river

Almost two weeks after dead pigs were first found in Shanghai's Huangpu River, questions about who dumped them, where, and how they died still remain unanswered.

So far, about 9,800 dead pigs have been retrieved from the river, which provides more than a fifth of Shanghai's drinking water. Another 3,600 have been retrieved from waterways in neighbouring Jiaxing, in Zhejiang province.

Shanghai's municipal government ramped up checks of water in the river and at water plants. They concluded that water quality in the river had not been affected and the city's tap water remained safe. The authorities also said that no pork from dead pigs was discovered in markets.

Jiaxing, which Shanghai's government has said is the source of the carcasses, insisted that no epidemic had occurred there. An official from the city's animal husbandry and veterinary bureau said Jiaxing was not the only source of the dead pigs found floating in the Huangpu River, but did not say which other places were to blame.

Neither Shanghai nor the Zhejiang authorities have announced an investigation, and the Ministry of Agriculture has sent a team, led by its chief veterinarian, to instruct officials on the disposal of dead pigs in Zhejiang last week.

The scandal has been a hot topic among Shanghai residents, with widespread criticism of the authorities' apparent lack of urgency in tracing the source of the carcasses.