Over 1,000 pigs and bulls in Vietnam's central highlands Lam Dong province have been infected with foot-and-mouth disease in recent days, local newspaper Labor reported Monday.

Most of the infected animals are in Duc Trong district. By April 16, some 1,000 pigs in the district have contracted the disease, and more than 400 of them died, the paper quoted Pham Ngoc Thiep, head of the Lam Dong Veterinary Bureau, as saying.

Relevant agencies are assessing the disease situation in Duc Trong, and tightening management over the transport of cattle, and operation of meat shops and slaughterhouses, so that infected pigs are not slaughtered or transported to the nearby resort city of Da Lat in Lam Dong, he said, noting that the province may have to announce an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in its territory in the coming days.

Lam Dong currently has 669 poultry- and cattle-trading bases, nearly 500 of which operate without license, the newspaper said.

Source: Xinhua