A recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Xuzhou, east
China's Jiangsu Province, has been brought under control, according
to experts in the province.
All the cows raised in Duanzhai Village, Xinyi County have been
slaughtered and disinfection work has been done, Yuan Rijin, an
expert with Jiangsu Agriculture and Forestry Bureau in charge of
the investigation of the disease, said yesterday.
About 20 cows in the village were reported to be showing the
symptoms of slobbering and water blistering on January 11.
Experts from Jiangsu Agriculture and Forestry Bureau confirmed
the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease after an investigation on
January 12. A total of 100 cows raised in the village were killed
and buried on January 13 in order to prevent further infection,
said Yuan.
Experts sent by the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday that
the cows in Duanzhai Village suffered Asian I type of
foot-and-mouth disease, defined by the World Health Organization as
a Level A highly contagious disease between domestic animals.
No other cases of infection have been reported in surrounding
villages, according to Xu Caizhu, spokesman of Xinyi government.
"The outbreak is under control," he said.
According to Xu, currently more than 30 people organized by the
local government have been guarding the two entrances to the
village since Saturday, to prevent the disease from spreading.
The village has been disinfected twice daily since the disease
broke out, and facilities used by the cows have been either
destroyed or fully disinfected, said Xu. All domestic animals that
might be infected by the disease have been immunized, he added.
Seven people who raised the infected cattle are being kept in
isolation for observation, Xu said.
(China Daily January 19, 2006)
