The number of Vietnamese localities stricken by foot-and-mouth disease has declined to six now from 17 early last month, local newspaper People said on Wednesday.

As of Oct. 24, a total of 439 cows, bulls and buffaloes and 27 pigs in the four northern provinces of Thai Nguyen, Ha Giang, Son La and Lang Son, and the two central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Ngai were infected with the disease, the newspaper quoted the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as reporting.

Vietnam is intensifying control over cattle transport and trade in affected areas, surveillance of the disease, and vaccination of healthy animals.

Under a national agriculture development plan approved by the government in 2005, the country will, by 2010, have 35-40 million pigs, 6.5-6.7 million bulls and cows, 2.8-3 million buffaloes, and 380-390 million poultry.

Source: Xinhua