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No one knows how over 2,800 rotting pigs got into Shanghai's Huangpu river, but we do know that it also happens to be a source of drinking water for the city's 23 million citizens. With that we're now we're going to shelve our breakfasts.

"Authorities insisted there was no risk drinking water supplies would be contaminated and said tests of the Huangpu's waters had found no trace of foot and mouth disease, blue-ear pig disease or swine fever," reported The Telegraph's Tom Phillips. However, Phillips does report that "authorities announced they had detected traces of porcine circovirus, a disease that affects pigs but which is not believed to infect humans, in the river." Authorities also haven't ruled out parasites like ascaris worms, which most pigs contract in their intestinal tracts during their lifetimes... whose images and descriptions will make you want to douse your monitor in bleach and hate us for pointing you in that direction.

"The carcasses were probably dumped in the Huangpu river in Zhejiang province," reports NBC News. While The Telegraph says local media suggested that the pigs were dumped by a nearby farmer, the official cause of the rotting swine river is still a mystery.

What's even more vomit-inducing is that the rotting pig soup known formerly known as the Huangpu River was actually a smelly stew of feet and bodily fluid even before the rotting pigs were found. "On Monday afternoon, the dead pigs shared their aquatic graveyard with a filthy mesh of glass and plastic bottles, flip-flops, shoes, what appeared to be bags of domestic and medical waste and even a plastic sex doll." Phillips reports. This video gives you some idea of the carnage, though don't say we didn't warn you (and your stomach) before watching it.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
