April 27, 2012

New PRRS outbreak in Vietnam

New outbreaks of Porcine Reproductive & Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) have been discovered in northern parts of Vietnam, according to deputy director of the Animal Health Department in Vietnam, Dam Xuan Thanh.

The northern provinces affected include Bac Giang, Nam Dinh, Phu Tho, Dien Bien and Yen Bai. Bac Giang province is the most recent province to have been affected by PRRS. In Dien Bien province, more than 8,800 pigs are culled due to the disease, while more than 2,600 pigs in Yen Bai provinces were infected by the virus.

According to Dam, the hot weather in the north accelerated the spread of PRRS. Moreover, some parts of the country were not on high alert in preventing the disease, including the failure to report affected cases and cull infected pigs.

The animal health department is attempting to control the situation in affected provinces and vaccines have been provided. For instance, in Phu Tho province, six quarantine stations were set up to check animals and poultry transported into the province.