MEXICO CITY, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Around 5,000 cattle as well as 400 sheep and goats were killed in northern Mexico when a cold spell swept the country, an agricultural organization said on Tuesday.

    The northern Mexican state of Zacatecas has witnessed the death of 5,000 cattle, which is 4 percent of the nation's herd and a loss of more than 20 million pesos (1.8 million U.S. dollars), Cuauhtemoc Espinosa Jaime, president of Zacatecas's Agricultural Development Organization said.

    The cold spell has pushed temperatures below zero degree Celsius in some parts of the state, a situation that has harmed many animals, he added. About 45,000 members of the organization did not have the facilities to protect their animals.

    In the northern state of Sinaloa, Anacleto Lopez Sandoval, president of the El Fuerte Farming Association told media that 400 sheep and goats had died from the cold spell, which had brought temperatures to minus two degree Celsius, leaving 70 animals dead over one night in the village of San Antonio.