Authorities: Don't eat missing pigs

HURRICANE, W.Va., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Authorities in a West Virginia county are warning residents not to eat any wayward pigs they find after five medicated swine escaped from an overturned truck.

Frank Chapman of the Putnam County Office of Emergency Services said the pigs still missing after the Oct. 15 crash on Route 34 were "heavily medicated and could pose a health risk if found and slaughtered for their meat," the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

Chapman said he did not know exactly what medications the pigs had been given but antibiotics may have been among them.

"If they've been dosed recently, there could be a health risk," he told the Charleston Gazette. "We were just told by the company that they had been medicated."

He said 13 pigs were recovered near the scene of the crash and eight were killed in the incident, leaving five still unaccounted for, the Daily Mail reported.

"We've been told people have found them but we just wanted to make sure they or anyone else that might recover these pigs wait at least 30 to 45 days before slaughter to make sure the drugs are out of their systems," Chapman said.