China fights animal disease
2008-05-17 18:08
Beijing - An earthquake that killed at
least 29 000 people in China also badly hurt livestock and crops
in Sichuan province, and disinfection teams are spreading out to
prevent more damage, officials said on Saturday.
The earthquake killed about 792 000 of Sichuan's estimated
60 million pigs, Li Jinxiang, head of the veterinary department
at the Ministry of Agriculture, told reporters.
However, the number of breeding sows nationwide is up on
last year, which could help stave off inflation, he told
Reuters.
Rescue work is still going on for thousands buried in rubble
after the May 12 quake, but with bodies in mass graves and water
supplies disrupted, efforts now also include disinfection
campaigns to prevent disease spreading among animals and people.
Poultry made up most of the 12.5 million birds and livestock
killed by Monday's quake.
The quake has damaged infrastructure just ahead of the hot,
humid summer, the peak season for diseases such as swine flu or
blue ear pig disease, which decimated the hog population in
2007.
"Preventing disease is one of our largest responsibilities,"
Li said at a news conference in Beijing.
Li told Reuters the breeding sow population was now about 20% more nationwide than it was this time last year, when
disease and poor profits discouraged breeding, helping to feed
inflation which is now running at a nearly 12-year high.
The quake badly damaged fish farms and about 15% of
vegetable production in the afflicted areas near the epicentre,
the officials said. As many as 50 000 greenhouses were damaged.
Sichuan accounts for nearly 15% of China's rapeseed
production, nearly 7% of summer grains and 5% of
vegetables.
Although a national surplus of fertiliser should be able to
make up for fertiliser plants damaged in industrial towns such
as Shifang, damage to irrigation infrastructure would be harder
to overcome, the officials said.
Sichuan is releasing water from
reservoirs to reduce pressure on weakened dams.
"Some rice paddies may have to be turned into dry fields
this summer," said Wei Chaoan, vice-minister of agriculture.
"Maybe, as this develops, many other problems will appear,
including some we don't know about yet."