Beijing, July 24: China has slaughtered over 400 sick cows and launched an health inspection in south China's Guangdong province after diagnosing bovine tuberculosis in a major dairy, a report said today. Over 400 sick cows were slaughtered yesterday, while the farm's dairy were sealed and prepared for destruction, reported a newspaper from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.
The Guangzhou Yunyan cattle farm in the city's Baiyun district, used to be one of Guangdong's biggest milk-production bases. The farm had 630 cows and used to produce more than two tonnes of fresh milk every day.
But an investigation was launched after the farm reported an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis last week. The Guangdong provincial bureau of agriculture and Guangdong provincial administration of inspection and quarantine jointly issued an emergency notice yesterday to say they were launching a province-wide health inspection campaign into Guangdong's cattle and other domestic animals.
In Guangzhou alone, there are 125 registered dairies, where over 18,000 cows are raised.
Earlier this month, the Guangdong provincial bureau of agriculture established a special task force that will focus on handling the case and making further investigations.
The outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in Guangdong has prompted China's Ministry of Agriculture to reiterate its pledge that it will come down hard on those who fail to report any animal epidemics in good time and in good faith.
Zhao Weining, a division director with the ministry's animal husbandry bureau, said any failure to report an animal epidemic would violate the country's animal epidemic-control law, which was enacted in 1997.
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, which triggered a global health alert in March-April, had its origin in Guangdong. Bureau Report