Experts: New Illness From Inhaling Pig Brains

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Scientists are currently studying the nature of a new illness being reported by workers at pork slaughterhouses in Minnesota and Indiana.

The disease, named progressive inflammatory neuropathy (PIN), is believed to be obtained by a person upon inhaling microscopic fragments of pig brains.

Symptoms of PIN included numbness, burning, fatigue, and a tingling feeling in the appendages, according to DB Techno.

Several sufferers of the sickness also reported of difficulty walking, and working. Although the symptoms were reported to eventually subdue, they did not completely disappear.

The slaughterhouses in the two states were known to remove the brains of the swine, pack them, and send them to Korea and China as food.

"This appears to be something new," said Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota's epidemiologist.

At the moment, according to the Washington Post, scientists say there is no reason to suspect contamination in the pig brains. Their theories were reported to currently center on the notion that once the pig brains were inhaled, the body produced antibodies that, while attacking the pig brains, also affected similar human nerve tissues.

The centralized nature of patients' exposure to the pigs was also mentioned as a notable fact to consider.

Two slaughterhouses in Indiana, and one in Minnesota, all of which were suspected to have caused the illness, stopped activity.