China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang has reported an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among pigs, which killed 25 hogs and sickened 58, the second outbreak in the region so far in the year, the Ministry of Agriculture said.
The recent outbreak was less serious than the one reported in February, when 3,941 pigs were culled.
The outbreak in Xinjiang, located far from major breeding areas in the southwest and central provinces, is unlikely to hurt animal feed consumption.
China’s pig-breeding industry has recently been hit by a drug-contamination scandal and pig breeders in the country’s major pig province of Henan fed pigs with ractopamine, a lean-meat drug, which was banned in the country.
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Meanwhile, Bulgarian veterinary authorities will cull 350 domestic animals after detecting a new outbreak of foot-and-month disease in a remote village near the Turkish border.
The outbreak, Bulgaria’s sixth this year, has affected the southeastern village of Bliznak within a quarantine zone, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency said.
Bulgaria believes the highly contagious disease has spread from Turkey and has appealed to its southern neighbour to step up efforts to eradicate the virus, which is not harmful to people but is economically damaging to animal breeders.
The European Union country has already culled 980 cattle, pigs, goats and sheep in several villages near the border with Turkey.
