CHINA: Foot-and-mouth disease hits Hong Kong

Hong Kong health officials are fighting to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the special administrative region of China, which has affected 16 cattle in a New Territories lairage.

All nearby susceptible livestock have been slaughtered (7,146 pigs, 560 cattle and 120 goats), and surveillance has been stepped up on local pig farms and on Hong Kong’s only cattle farm.

Meanwhile, Switzerland has reported an outbreak of the decidedly unpleasant rhinotracheitis/infectious pustular vulvovaginitis, with 75 dairy and beef cattle at risk, said the Office International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation. Quarantine, screening and disinfection measures have been taken to prevent the disease spreading.