FMD outbreak resurfaces in China's Xinjiang

China's northwestern region of Xinjiang has reported an outbreak of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease, which killed 25 hogs and sickened 58, the second outbreak in the region so far in the year, according to the ministry of agriculture. 

The recent outbreak was less serious than the one reported in February, when 3,941 hogs were culled.

The outbreak in Xinjiang, located far from major breeding areas in the southwest and central provinces, is unlikely to hurt animal feed consumption.

China's pig breeding industry has recently been hit by a drug-contamination scandal in which pig breeders in the country's central province of Henan fed pigs with clenbuterol, a lean-meat drug which was banned in the country. 

The scandal has caused a public outcry on concerns over the country's meat safety, prompting the ministry later to clarify that 99.4% of sampled pigs were free of the drug in the first quarter of the year. 

China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC) said that the drug scandal had limited impact on corn demand from its animal feed mills. The centre estimated demand in 2010-11 would grow 6% to 105 million tonnes.