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The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department today (January 16) urged pig farmers to maintain good farm hygiene to prevent an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among the local pig population.
In response to press enquiries, a department spokesman said there had been an outbreak of the disease on a pig farm in Yuen Long and upon receiving the report, department staff had carried out an inspection and given proper advice to the farmer.
"Our staff went to the farm in Lau Fau Shan on January 10 immediately after a suspected outbreak was brought to our attention. Tissue samples were collected from the sick sows for virology testing and were found to have foot-and-mouth disease virus," he said.
"The farmer was advised to implement complete disinfection in the whole farm and control movement of pigs and workers in the contaminated shed."
The spokesman refuted an allegation that the department's refusal to allow the farm to segregate infected pigs had led to the outbreak, stressing that the farm was not restricted from moving healthy pigs to any licensed structures.
"Regarding the two sick sows suspected to have been infected then, the inspectors advised that they should not be moved as they might infect the healthy stock," he said.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a common viral disease occurring in pigs in the region including Hong Kong. It usually strikes the pig population sporadically in winter months. Farmers can control the disease by vaccination and good biosecurity.
The spokesman called on farmers to comply with vaccination protocol, step up precautions and report any suspected cases to the department. He added that no abnormal mortality in local pigs was observed in the department's latest inspection of pig farms.
Ends/Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Issued at HKT 18:21
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