Risk of pig disease outbreaks high in Vietnam

HANOI - Risk of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) outbreaks among pigs is still high in Vietnam although the disease has cooled down in the country, reports local newspaper Pioneer.

10 September 2007

2 minute read

The PRRS vaccination for pigs is not very effective, as the disease has hit many vaccinated animals, the paper quoted Mai Van Hiep, vice head of the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Now, the disease is hitting three provinces, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh in the central region, and Ba Ria Vung Tau in the southern region, said the department.

PRRS outbreaks has occurred in 13 cities and provinces across Vietnam since March, affecting 65,000 pigs and causing property losses worth tens of billions of Vietnamese dong (hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars).

PRRS was first recognized in the United States in the mid-1980 sand is now present in most pig producing countries. The symptoms include reproductive failure, pneumonia and increased susceptibility to secondary bacterial infection.