Vietnam's central Thanh Hoa province has seen 159 cattle being infected with foot-and-mouth disease over the past few days, local newspaper Young People reported Tuesday.

Since Aug. 18, a total of 154 buffalos and bulls, four goats and one pig in Thanh Hoa showed signs of foot-and-mouth infections, and initial tests indicated that they have contracted the disease, the newspaper quoted sources from the provincial Veterinary Bureau as reporting.

The bureau has transported 5,600 doses of foot-and-mouth vaccines to affected areas in Ba Thuoc district and Bim Son town, disinfected cattle cages, and established quarantine checkpoints around the areas.

Now, foot-and-mouth disease is still hitting 103 communes of the 12 cities and provinces nationwide, affecting nearly 3,580 buffalos, bulls and cows, and roughly 1,310 pigs, according to the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2006)