China reports 219 cases of foot-and-mouth cattle disease in northwestern region

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has reported outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in two herds of cattle in its northwestern province of Gansu and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The government confirmed diagnosis of serotype SAT1 foot-and-mouth disease in 219 cattle in two herds of 6,229 total cattle on Saturday.

The local governments in Xinjiang and Gansu implemented culling and disinfecting measures following the outbreaks.

Industry analysts say this is the first time serotype SAT1 has entered China and current domestic vaccines offer no cross-protection against this strain.

Reuters