According to a state-backed media report, Chinese authorities are investigating multiple dead pigs that have been found along a section of the Yellow River.
Banyueten, a magazine run by state news agency Xinhua, reported that dozens of pig carcasses were found in the Inner Mongolia section of the country's second-longest river, and some were rotting in the water. Local authorities are investigating where the pigs came from, and checking to see if they carried any diseases. In addition, they will be disinfecting the area.
This has happened before in China: in 2013, thousands of dead pigs were discovered in Shanghai's Huangpu River—some of which were infected with porcino circovirus disease, threatening its water supply. In 2014, authorities pulled more than 100 dead pigs from the Ganjiang River, in Nanchang City.
China's hog population is currently recovering from the ravages of African swine fever, too. African swine fever broke out in the country in 2018, and killed almost half of the hogs in the world's largest pork producer. Concerns over food safety and rising costs of pork production have accelerated the closure of small pig farms in favor of larger facilities.
