Press Releases

Foot-and-mouth disease under control
Monday, January 26, 2004

There is no evidence to suggest that foot-and-mouth disease in Hong Kong is more serious this year than in previous years, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said today (January 26).

Some 1,200 pigs were confirmed to have been infected with foot-and-mouth disease in 2003, compared with some 2,200 and 4,100 for 2002 and 2001 respectively. Most of the pigs were infected in the winter months. In January this year about 900 pigs were reported to have been infected.

"Farmers should report foot-and-mouth disease cases to the AFCD as soon as possible. It is in their best interests to do so as this allows the AFCD to provide farmers with veterinary diagnostic services. It also enables us to monitor the serotype of the virus so that an appropriate vaccine could be chosen if a new serotype is found," AFCD's Assistant Director (Inspection and Quarantine) Mr Lai Ching-wai said.

"The AFCD has started inspecting pig farms again to look for any unreported foot-and-mouth disease cases. An operation has also been mounted by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to check for any illegal dumping of dead pigs," he said.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a common viral disease occurring in pigs in the region including in Hong Kong. The disease does occur in pigs in Hong Kong during the winter months. Farmers control the disease by vaccination.

"We have distributed the vaccination protocol to all pig farmers before winter so that they can step up their preparation before the usual peak season of the disease," Mr Lai said.

He reminded farmers to maintain good farm hygiene and properly dispose of animal carcasses. Improper dumping of a carcass may lead to prosecution and possible revocation of the farm licence.

All pigs in the slaughterhouse have gone through health inspections before marketing. If pigs are suspected to have localised infection, relevant parts will be condemned to ensure quality pork in line with the international hygiene standard.

Mr Lai stressed that the transmission of foot-and-mouth disease from pigs to humans through direct contact was extremely rare. The Department of Health has not received any report of such human infections of foot-and-mouth disease in Hong Kong.