( CNN ) -- Pig farmers threw rocks at police officers in Cairo , Egypt , on Sunday as health workers gathered the farmers ' herds for slaughter in what the government says is a precaution against the spread of swine flu , an interior ministry official told CNN . The Egyptian government required all pigs in the country be killed , citing a need to prevent the spread of swine flu . Brig . Gen. Hani Abdel-Latif said 50 to 60 protesters gathered in Cairo 's Manshiyet Naser slum because they were upset with the health ministry 's decision to slaughter all pigs in the country . But local media reported the number of farmers clashing with police on Sunday was in the hundreds . Experts have criticized the Egyptian government 's move , announced last week , to slaughter all pigs regardless of whether they are infected . There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in Egypt . And according to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , humans can not get the swine flu virus , known to scientists as the H1N1 virus , by eating pork . The CDC says human infection from pigs most likely occurs when people are in close proximity to sick animals , such as in pig barns . But Egyptian officials cite how avian flu still exists in the country because , they say , the government did not take sufficient protective measures when that disease was first discovered there in 2006 . Most Egyptian pig farmers are Coptic Christians , a group that makes up about 10 percent of the 80 million people in the mostly Muslim nation . Coptic Christians do not observe the Muslim ban on eating pork , and historically they have coexisted peacefully with the Muslim majority in Egypt . The farmers also work in the garbage industry and use their daily collections to feed their herds , which number about 300,000 animals in the country . With the government-mandated slaughter under way , Egypt 's Health Ministry declared Saturday that `` Egypt is free of the swine flu . '' Dr. Hamid Samaha , head of the country 's Public Institute for Veterinary Services , said that starting Sunday the government will compensate pig farmers by paying as much as $ 45 for a disease-free pig and about $ 5 for diseased ones . The health ministry told CNN its workers are freezing all the disease-free meat and plan to give it back to its owners once the ban on pigs is lifted . But according to Egypt 's state-run al-Akhbar newspaper , ministry sources said the country does not have enough facilities to store the frozen meat . Ministry spokesman Dr. Abdel-Rahman Shaheen said the government will open two new slaughterhouses in two provinces near Cairo , al-Alioubiya and al-Giza . Shaheen also announced Saturday that the ministry has enlisted 100 additional doctors and nurses to help in health quarantines at Cairo Airport , where travelers are being questioned if they have been to Mexico recently . And more are expected to be hired to help at Alexandra 's main seaport , where the government declared a state of emergency last week . CNN 's Housam Ahmed in Cairo contributed to this report .
Farmers in Cairo argue with police as health officials order pigs to slaughter . Egypt banned slaughter of pigs in 2013 over news of bird flu . There have been no confirmed cases of swine flu in Egypt .