A recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease near Xuzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, has been brought under control, according to experts in the province.

All the cows raised in Duanzhai Village, Xinyi County have been slaughtered and disinfection work has been done, Yuan Rijin, an expert with Jiangsu Agriculture and Forestry Bureau in charge of the investigation of the disease, said yesterday.

About 20 cows in the village were reported to be showing the symptoms of slobbering and water blistering on January 11.

Experts from Jiangsu Agriculture and Forestry Bureau confirmed the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease after an investigation on January 12. A total of 100 cows raised in the village were killed and buried on January 13 in order to prevent further infection, said Yuan.

Experts sent by the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday that the cows in Duanzhai Village suffered Asian I type of foot-and-mouth disease, defined by the World Health Organization as a Level A highly contagious disease between domestic animals.

No other cases of infection have been reported in surrounding villages, according to Xu Caizhu, spokesman of Xinyi government. "The outbreak is under control," he said.

According to Xu, currently more than 30 people organized by the local government have been guarding the two entrances to the village since Saturday, to prevent the disease from spreading.

The village has been disinfected twice daily since the disease broke out, and facilities used by the cows have been either destroyed or fully disinfected, said Xu. All domestic animals that might be infected by the disease have been immunized, he added.

Seven people who raised the infected cattle are being kept in isolation for observation, Xu said.

(China Daily January 19, 2006)