Wrestling Pigs

On Tuesday, I was invited to work with an African Swine Flu (ASF) team, through Makerere University in Kampala.  ASF is endemic to Africa and this research will add to what is not quite known.  Karl, a Swedish vet and PhD researcher, has been studying this disease for over a year now, taking samples from domestic pigs outside of Kampala.  I was invited to help this week. The first site was in Kalangala – in fact the same place I spent Christmas this year.  Luckily the disease does not spread to humans, but is extremely contagious to domestic pigs.  Warthogs and bushpigs carry the tick-borne disease with no symptoms.   

We drove 2.5 hours to the southwest of Kampala to catch a (FREE!) ferry to bring the equipment to the island (1 of 70) in Lake Victoria. The ferry ride was flat and only 45 minutes, phew. The drive from Bukakata ferry launch to Kalangala is one hour exactly.  You should have seen the dirt that came out of my hair and laundry when I got home, yuck, and the snot in my nose, sorry!  Lots of dust and bad roads, but at least they were doing construction. Hey, it’s like I’m back in Chicago!  We visited one healthy pig farm before we visited an infected farm. The second farm was actually a group of pigs owned by many farmers, housed under the same roof. This is a very common set-up here.

Here is a picture of me wrestling a pig.  It looks like the pig is winning, but really my huge muscles are engaged and I am popping out of my shirt (yes I gained weight this week!). Ha!  So they use this ugly thing called a snare that catches the pig in the mouth. The pigs do NOT like this at all and I don’t blame them!  I felt bad using it, they scream and make a scene, and they can’t wait until it is all over.  Me too.  A wildlife vet, Dennis, took blood from the jugular, and this was actually when the pigs quieted down.  The whole time I was dreaming of having a bucket full of carrot pieces to reinforce them positively (i.e. thank them!) for their discomfort and blood.  I also wanted to say hello to my warthog buddy, Sammy, from Lincoln Park Zoo (these animals are so smart and have feelings too =) I was very grateful when I woke up the next morning having not dreamt of screaming pigs. 

P.S. This is why I didn’t become a vet.  Sadly, these pigs could be dead within a week, this disease is no joke and there is no vaccine.  You won’t hear about it in the US or UK because our governments won’t let it in as you can imagine.

I go out again tomorrow to help, this time in a district on the “mainland”, about an hour outside Kampala.  Wish me luck!  Piggy-Poo to the rescue!



A really healthy pregnant pig. This is what you (and I) eat, isn't that sad?? Don't think it doesn't make me want to be a vegetarian.




Karl and the Makerere truck