May 15, 2006

China issues warning on Vietnam livestock imports due to FMD

China's Foreign Ministry warned local companies and individuals not to import livestock and animal byproducts from Vietnam due an outbreak of food and mouth disease, the official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday (May 14).

The Ministry also urged residents not to go to the areas in Vietnam hit by the epidemic, to prevent pathogens from entering China.

Foot-and-mouth disease was found in 433 villages in 154 counties of Vietnam, affecting more than 26,000 cattle, 10,000 pigs and 47 sheep, Xinhua cited Vietnamese reports as saying.

China's Ministry of Agriculture had reported five domestic outbreaks of food and mouth disease since the beginning of this year.

More than 300 cattle, sheep and pigs were infected in the country's western Qinghai and Gansu provinces, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the eastern Jiangsu province.