Animal diseases in Vietnam are almost under control, an animal health senior officer said at a meeting in Hanoi Tuesday.

Gia Lai in the Central Highlands is the only province in the country that has not cleared foot-and-mouth disease, he said.

According to ministry regulations, a city or province will be pronounced safe from an animal disease if no new cases are reported after 21 days.

Nam warned that the coming seasonal rains could cause a high risk of outbreaks if residents don’t vaccinate their animals as instructed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Diep Kinh Tan, deputy minister of agriculture and rural development, asked Nam’s department to supervise the bird flu vaccination, being careful not to overlook any village to protect against further outbreaks.

Tan also asked local officials at the meeting to regularly check slaughterhouses in the area and strictly punish animal smugglers.

Source: VNA