PHNOM Penh pork vendors are selling up to two-thirds less meat than usual, as consumers continue to stay home due to concerns about blue-ear disease in pigs.

Government officials have warned there is a risk people could suffer severe diarrhoea if they eat infected meat that has not been cooked properly, although a United Nations official has said the disease could not be contracted by humans.

Prime Minister Hun Sen this month announced a ban on pig imports from Thailand and Vietnam to stop the spread of the disease.

Pork sales had more than halved since the blue-ear outbreak, Kandal Market vendor Im Thavy said.

“Before, I sold around 20 pigs per day, but now I can sell only seven or eight pigs”. She said she still charged 17,000 riels per kilogramme and could not afford to offer any discount to encourage consumption.

Another Kandal Market pork seller, Lim Seak, also reported a dramatic dip in sales but said she had re-duced her prices to between 15,000 and 16,000 riels per kilogram.