HANOI, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam's central Quang Nam province has officially announced the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which has affected nearly 2,000 hoof cattle, mainly buffaloes, cows and bulls.

    The foot-and-mouth disease has hit a total of 27 communes of six towns and districts since Dec. 1, 2003, local newspaper Young People reported Monday.

    The provincial authorities have established inter-sectoral teams to ensure hygiene of foodstuffs, and advised local people not to use infected cattle for food processing, although no cases of eating the cattle's meat by mistake negatively affecting human health have been recorded so far.

    Quang Nam has decided to set aside one billion Vietnamese dong (64,000 US dollars) from its budget for cattle vaccination. Over 45,000 doses of vaccines and 300 liters of chemicals for detoxification have been used.

    The central city of Da Nang has beefed up surveillance at checkpoints to prevent affected cattle in Quang Nam from being transported to its territory. Ho Chi Minh City also offered free vaccination to buffaloes and cows in the city.

    The foot-and-mouth disease, which has stricken many parts of Asia, Africa and South America, causes great economic loss as it weakens cattle's strength, reduces their output of meat and milk and leads to abortions.

    The disease causes high fatalities in immature cattle with a fatality rate of 50-60 percent, but much lower rates in immature pigs with less than five percent, according to Vietnamese animal health officers. Enditem