Man dies of pig disease

The disease spread from pigs

A farm worker may be the first person in Britain to die after contracting a rare disease caught from pigs.

Jackie Forrest, 30, died the day after falling ill at the pig farm where he worked in Swillington, near Leeds.

It was initially thought Mr Forrest, of Kippax, Leeds, had died from blood poisoning.

We don't want it blowing up so people are going to get worried about pigs

National Farmers Union

But tests are believed to have shown he was the first person in the country to die from the pig disease streptococcus suis.

It is thought he inhaled the streptococcus after it was breathed out by the pigs.

There are believed to have been only three other cases in the world.

Mr Forrest was taken ill at the pig farm last August.

He complained of chest pains and was taken to hospital, where he slipped into a coma.

He was put on a life support machine but died the next day.

Dr Martin Schweiger, Leeds Health Authority's consultant in communicable diseases, said Mr Forrest's immune system was vulnerable.

It was weakened after he had his spleen removed following a car accident.

An inquest into his death is due to resume on Monday.

A spokesman from the NFU said: "We are waiting for the inquest to find out what the specialists have got to say about it.

"There's a feeling that the man had reduced immunity because he'd lost his spleen.

"We don't want it blowing up so people are going to get worried about pigs."