April 17, 2006

Foot-and-mouth disease hits pigs and bulls in Vietnam

More than 1,000 pigs and bulls in Vietnam's central highlands Lam Dong province have been infected with foot-and-mouth disease over the weekend, a local newspaper reported Monday (Apr 17).

Most of the infected animals are in Duc Trong district. About 1,000 pigs in the district have contracted the disease, and more than 400 of them died, according to Pham Ngoc Thiep, head of the Lam Dong Veterinary Bureau.

Authorities are evaluating the disease in Duc Trong and imposing restrictions on the movement of cattle. Meatshops and slaughterhouses are also monitored so that infected pigs are not slaughtered or transported to the nearby resort city of Da Lat in Lam Dong, he said,

Lam Dong has 669 poultry- and cattle-trading operations, nearly three-quarters of which are unregistered.