SAGARPA officials, the Mexican animal health authorities, have notified the management at Granjas Carroll’s de Mexico (GCM) that testing of diagnostic samples collected from pigs in the Valley of Perote, Veracruz showed no trace of the novel H1N1 virus according to information released by the company.
Perote, headquarters for the GCM operations, is near the community of La Gloria which has been suggested as a possible epicenter of the recent H1N1 influenza outbreak. A young boy from La Gloria has been identified as the first known case of the disease.
Locals and media groups speculated a possible connection to GCM’s swine farms in the area. The company responded by cooperating with authorities to collect samples from pigs for analysis at government laboratories. The samples were collected on April 30 and the results of testing were announced on May 13.
Source: GCM Press Release, May 14, 2009