200,000 more pigs to get blue-ear shots

HA NOI — The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Animal Health Department will administer over 200,000 doses of Chinese-made vaccines against blue-ear disease later this month, said Van Dang Ky, head of the department's epidemiological service.

Pigs in high-risk regions in the south would be prioritised for vaccination, Ky said.

If the vaccines prove safe and effective, they would be put into wider use, he added.

Department inspectors visited Guangdong, China, where the vaccine has seen success in preventing the spread of the disease in several southern Chinese provinces.

This was the fifth vaccine against blue-ear disease to be piloted in Viet Nam, Ky noted, and it was expected to show greater effectiveness.

The disease has been largely kept out of HCM City so far, thanks to strict control of transportation and slaughter of sick pigs.

Nguyen Phuoc Trung, deputy director of HCM City's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, warned, however, that the disease could still break out following the recently culling of swine belonging to 22 households in District 12. The city has offered financial support of VND25,000 per kg of live pigs to 11 households.

Phan Xuan Thao, head of the HCM City Animal Health Department, said blue-ear disease had mostly struck small-household farms with inadequate facilities to ensure sanitation.

The Prime Minister has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to donate 25,000 litres of disinfectant to the southern provinces of Soc Trang, Tien Giang and Long An to help halt the spread of the disease.

Blue-ear disease has been reported in 27 out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide, mostly in the south. Figures from the Department of Animal Health showed that 56,810 pigs had contracted the disease and that 27,000 pigs had been culled.

Pigs raised using industrial methods were safe, and consumers did not need to avoid pork products, said Thao. — VNS

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Transport of pigs under scrutiny to stop blue-ear

A veterinary staff member carries out a biopsy on a carcass at Thuan Loi slaughter-house in HCM City. The city has ordered closer monitoring of the way pigs are transported into the city to keep out blue-ear disease. —VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hai

HCM CITY — Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Le Hoang Quan has ordered for closer monitoring of transport of pigs into the city to keep out blue-ear disease.

The chairman also called for increased awareness of the disease among pig farmers.

"All measures must be taken to ensure safe pork is available for Tet (the Lunar New Year) early next year and farmers and breeders have disease-free animals for breeding after the epidemic abates," he said.

According to a preliminary report by the city Division of Animal Health, inspectors in District 9 found and destroyed more than two tonnes of pig carcasses in Long Binh Ward. They had been brought in from Dong Nai Province's Trang Bom District.

In Binh Chanh District, authorities found and destroyed 2.1 tonnes of infected meat at an illegal food shop.

In districts 1, 2, 12, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc, animal quarantine stations seized and destroyed more than 5.3 tonnes of illegally transported pork and suckling pigs.

Phan Xuan Thao, head of the animal health division, said the transport of pigs with blue-ear disease into the city from other provinces had been rising since the end of July.

And, things are worsening in the city's neighbourhood. All samples taken from pigs transported from Tay Ninh Province tested positive for the disease. For Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, the number was 35 out of 50.

Nguyen Trung Tin, city People's Committee deputy chairman and head of a Standing Board for Animal Diseases Prevention, said the city also had to focus on ensuring the safety of its 30,000 pigs.

He ordered the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to work with provinces to prevent the illegal transport of pigs, and the Division of Animal Health to disinfect the city, especially breeding and slaughter sites.

He asked the State-owned Vissan Company to buy up all the stocks of pigs sold by farmers to ensure there would be adequate supply this year.

Van Duc Muoi, the company's general director, fearing an impending pork scarcity, said the company would carry out the city's orders.

So far 22 provinces and cities have reported outbreaks of blue-ear disease.

Van Dang Ky of the Department of Animal Health said Can Tho and Ben Tre Province were the two latest locations to report outbreaks.

The department has sought clearance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to import 210,000 more vaccines from China for pigs.— VNS

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Cattle from Thailand bypass border quarantine checks

QUANG BINH — Thousands of buffaloes and cows have been imported from Thailand without going through quarantine procedures, a media report said.

The regulation on a 15-day quarantine period was not being imposed at the Cha Lo Border Gate in central Quang Binh Province's Minh Hoa District, a report in the Nong thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper said.

The official excuse was the long distance between the Animal Health Department and the segregation areas made the cost and transportation of food for the stock expensive.

Quarantine certificates were being issue within as few as 1-7 days, the report said.

Importing livestock can be lucrative. One buffalo or cow can be bought for VND10 million ($523) in Thailand and sold for VND15-20 million ($785-1,046) in Viet Nam.

As many 10,000 buffaloes and cows crossed the border in the first seven months of the year.

Under regulations, livestock must go through seven stages of a 15-day quarantine period, supervised by Cha Lo Border Gate's Customs, Animal Health Agencies No 3 and the provincial Animal Health Department.

After 15 days, if segregated buffaloes and cows show no signs of disease, the owners receive quarantine certificates and the stock can be sold on the domestic market, the regulations state.

Violators are liable to a fine of VND15-20 million (US$785-1,046).

However, the rules were being ignored by agencies, the report said.

Provincial Animal Health Department head Pham Hong Son said "We just issue quarantine certificates for companies after the Animal Health Agency No 3 finish all quarantine procedures for animals and send files to us."

If animals had diseases, responsibilities belonged with the agency, Son said.

Besides, he said, the department and agency faced many difficulties in quarantining animals. Transporting feed for animals for 15 days was expensive, he said.

"We have submitted a proposal to building one concentrated segregated station in the Khe Ve area in Minh Hoa District," he said. — VNS

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