Saeed,

Real deal. Actually nothing new, but a couple wet years in a row have blown up feral pig populations, and ground squirrels. Legislators have taken other rodent control methods away, so more diphacinone being used for that reason as well.

I've heard that's possible, but I think it's very localized to the area where the poison is being used (and left available to pigs). This morning I skinned a big boar for a client not terribly far south of that area (same county) in the article. It was very healthy and the fat and meat looked normal (but we don't have a lot of agriculture immediately around our hunting area).