Thousands of Pigs Found Dead in Shanghai River; Is the Water Safe to Drink? (VIDEO)

Citizens of China debate on how safe drinking water is in the country when more than 2,800 dead pigs have been fished out of a Shanghai River.

Debates on how safe drinking water is in China have picked up more than 2,800 dead pigs were fished out of a Shanghai River since Friday. According to state news agency Xinhua, the dead pigs were found with a label tag on their ears suggesting they came from the upper waters of the Huangpu River. This river flows to Shanghai and is the source of drinking water for the city. However, officials have stated that tap water is still safe to drink, CNN reports.

The reason for why these pigs have been dumped in the river still remains unclear by local media have reported that earlier this year, a disease spread in a village in South Shanghai, killing many pigs.

"We will continue to trace the source, investigate the cause, co-operate with neighboring areas and take measures to stop the dumping of pigs into rivers," the Shanghai Municipal Agricultural Commission said in a statement posted on their website on Monday.

The commission clarified that until Sunday the water in the Songjiang section of the river where the pigs were found was normal and didn't affect tap water. However, locals don't seem to be satisfied with the commission's justification and have taken to a site similar to Twitter called Sina Weibo saying the city's tap water is unsafe to drink.

"Huangpu River is the source of drinking water for more than 20 million Shanghai residents. And this horrific incident was only made public when residents started posting pictures on Weibo," business investor Xue Manzi said in a post on his account.

The commission also said they have studies test samples of the organs of these dead pigs and it has been found that these pigs had been infected by a type of porcine circovirus. Professor Fred Leung, who specializes in animal diseases at Hong Kong University, said this infection is common among pigs but is usually not fatal on its own.