L'únic porc de Afganistan (al zoo)

Afghan pig gets out of the pen

Zoo had kept animal in quarantine because of swine flu fears

	Afghan zoo workers walk next to Afghanistan's only known pig in Kabul Zoo on July 4. The pig trotted out of quarantine on Saturday, two months after he was locked away because of swine flu fears, to bask again in the mud at the Kabul Zoo. View related photos
Hamid Sayedi / REUTERS FILE

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By Golnar Motevalli

updated 12:40 p.m. ET July 7, 2009

KABUL - Afghanistan's only known pig trotted out of quarantine Saturday, two months after he was locked away because of swine flu fears, to bask again in the mud at the Kabul Zoo.

The pig, a curiosity in Muslim Afghanistan where pork and pig products are illegal because they are considered irreligious, was quarantined because visitors to the zoo were worried it could spread the new H1N1 flu strain, commonly known as swine flu.

"Our people did not understand that the disease only passes from person to person and felt that the swine influenza might even be spread from the zoo because we have a pig here," zoo manager Aziz Gul Saqib said.

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