Shanghai authorities are insisting that tap water there is still safe to drink despite anywhere up to 3,000 dead pigs being fished from the city's main waterway.
The Shanghai water bureau said that workers had fished the swine from the Huangpu river, which flows past the Bund waterfront district.
The river provides drinking water for Shanghai's 23 million plus residents.
NBC cited an official statement by Shanghai Agriculture Committee, posted on Weibo, as saying that some of the pigs were infected by porcine circovirus (PCV) virus.
PCV was found in a sample taken from the Songjiang section of the Huangpu river, but the disease would not infect humans, the statement added.
The assessment accords with information provided on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
NBC also cited a Shanghai Water management officer named "Zhu" as saying that the results of hourly water tests were normal.
"We are adding more chlorine as an action to protect water safety."
Meanwhile, Voice of America cited the Agriculture Committee as saying there was no substance to a claim that the pigs were dumped upriver in Zheiiang province.
According to Bloomberg, the Chinese government had recently come under fire over health and environmental issues, including a cadmium spill in a tributary of the Pearl River in January 2012 that triggered panic buying of bottled water, and a 2010 waste leak into a river in southern Fujian province that killed nearly 2,000 tons of fish.
Beijing has announced a plan for a regulator "with broader authority to ensure food and drug safety."
There is no paywall on the story you just read because a community of dedicated listeners and readers have contributed to keep the global news you rely on free and accessible for all. Will you join the 319 donors who have supported The World so far? From now until Dec. 31, your gift will help us unlock a $67,000 match. Donate today to double your impact!