China to immunise pigs with new PRRS vaccine

BEIJING - China's Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday it would soon start to immunise pigs with a new vaccine in a bid to prevent the spread of blue ear pig disease.

An estimated 1 million pigs have died in an unusually widespread outbreak of the disease, more formally known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), that began last May in south Jiangxi Province.

An outbreak in Guangdong province last month captured domestic and international media attention. The disease, which causes stillbirths in pigs, fever, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and redness of the skin, is not communicable to humans.

The vaccination programme will begin in Guangdong, the ministry said on its Web site (www.agri.gov.cn). It is planned to "to stop the spread of disease in its heaviest areas".

Agriculture industry officials have told Reuters that previous vaccination attempts over the last year have proven unsuccessful, which they attributed to mutations in the virus.

To continue reading this article please click here

Source: Reuters

Further Reading

China Identifies Mystery Illness Wiping Out Pigs In Southern Region
China orders shots after pig deaths
Mystery disease kills pigs in Southern China

For more information on PRRS, click here.

© 5M Enterprises Ltd.
2000 - 2007
No part of this site may be
reproduced without permission

5M Enterprises Ltd., 4 Haywood House, Hydra Business Park, Nether Lane, Sheffield, S35 9ZX, England.

Co. Registration 3332321 - A Benchmark Holdings Ltd. Company