August 3, 2007

Vietnam province refuses to take districts off pig disease list

Blue ear disease's worst hit Vietnamese province has rejected calls to declare some of its districts to be free of the disease because one community still suffers from the pestilence.

The local government of Quang Nam province has instead requested to have 1,800 pigs in its farm under treatment and cull them if necessary. It also urged affected communities to take drastic measures to contain the epidemic -- such as preventing illegal transport of infected pigs, inoculation and quarantine of infected sites.

On the same day, the central Department of Animal Health declared the province's Phu Ninh province as infected after eight pigs were reported sick.