August 20, 2007

Blue ear disease detected in pigs in China's Shanxi

An outbreak of blue ear disease has been detected among pigs in north China's Shanxi province, about 550 kilometres west of Beijing, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed on Friday ( Aug 17).

The ministry refused to give any details when contacted by Xinhua, saying it would hold a news conference on Monday.

Including Shanxi, 26 provincial-level regions have now reported outbreaks of blue ear disease this year.

All pigs entering Beijing and Shanghai were required to be fitted with electronic tags from August 1 to track potential diseases. Other regions will follow in November.