May 31, 2005

China slaughters cattle to prevent spread of foot and mouth

The Chinese Agriculture Ministry has confirmed that hundreds of cattle with foot and mouth disease have been slaughtered near Beijing since early May. A total of 3,771 cattle were slaughtered this month to stop four separate outbreaks in Beijing, two other eastern cities and the north-western region of Xinjiang.

The disease presents no major threat to human health and ministry officials say all their energy and resources are going into controlling the disease in a timely manner.

Jia Youling, director of the Veterinary Bureau of the Agriculture Ministry said the delay in reporting was due partly to the time required to get laboratory confirmation of infections, and that the Chinese government has no intention of hiding any outbreak of the disease.