February 11, 2004

Vietnam Says FMD Outbreak Under Control

Vietnam officials have announced that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, infected over 2200 livestock in central Vietnam, is now under control.

More than 1,100 buffalos and cows were infected with the disease in late December in six districts in Quang Nam province, said Vo Van Cuong of the provincial agriculture department.

Authorities have isolated the infected animals and vaccinated the remaining herd, he said. More than half have already recovered, while the rest are being treated.

Officials have destroyed more than 500 infected pigs, because they can spread the disease much faster than buffalos and cows, he said.

No more infections were reported in five districts over the last five days, with only a handful of new infections in cows were reported from one district, Cuong said.

In neighboring Quang Ngai province, more than 600 animals, mostly cows, were infected with foot-and-mouth disease, said Truong Dinh Toan, deputy director of the provincial department for animal health.

Toan said 32 animals were killed, 56 cows had recovered, and the remaining were being treated. No new infections were reported over the past three days in the province, he said.

Foot-and-mouth disease is harmless to humans, but can cause wasting in cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, sheep and pigs.

Vietnam has also been struck by the deadly bird flu outbreak, leading to the deaths of some 30 million poultry - more than 10% of the country's entire stock.

Bird flu has killed 14 people in Vietnam and five in Thailand.