Pig epidemic grips central Vietnam, locals can’t win on their own
VIET NAM - The pigs have reportedly perished due to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), also known as blue ear disease, which broke out in Quang Nam province early this month.
16 July 2007
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| Local authorities in a central province are crying for help as a rampant disease has wiped out 20,000 pigs in under two weeks. |
At a meeting Sunday with the provincial administration, Health Minister Cao Duc Phat called for the mobilization of all available resources to curb the outbreak.
He instructed agencies concerned to keep a close eye on epidemic-prone areas and carry out inoculation campaigns.
He stressed the importance of preventing the disease from spreading to other provinces.
Some 250,000 doses of Blue ear vaccine would be earmarked for Quang Nam this week, said Bui Quang Anh, head of the ministry’s Animal Health Department.
Sterilization equipment would also be beefed up, he added.
Nguyen Thanh Quang, head of Quang Nam’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, admitted the province was in desperate need of around VND10 billion (US$62,500) to help affected breeders who have lost their pigs to the epidemic.
