HANOI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Foot-and-mouth disease has hit two more provinces of Vietnam, raising the number of infected provinces to nine, according to Department of Animal Health under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday.

    The disease has newly broken out in central Nghe An province and the coastal Quang Ngai province of central Vietnam, according to the department.

    In central Nghe An province, the disease infected 50 cows and buffaloes raised in two local communes, said the department.

    Meanwhile, 19 cows in the coastal Quang Ngai province have contracted the deadly disease, said the department.

    The disease has so far this year broken out in nine provinces of Vietnam, including four northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Bac Kan,Quang Ninh, Phu Tho, four central provinces of Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and the Central highlands province of Kon Tum, said the department.

    The foot-and-mouth disease in livestock hit 14 Vietnamese provinces in 2008, affecting more than 2,400 bulls and buffaloes and 67 pigs.

    The ministry vows to speed up information campaigns, restructure poultry trading, and raise hygiene standards in slaughterhouses this year.