Foot-and-mouth case confirmed in Xinjiang

The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Tuesday said that foot-and-mouth disease infections have been confirmed in cattle in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

On May 2, a village in Awat County in Aksu Prefecture reported that 16 heads of cattle showed suspected symptom of the disease, according to the MOA.

The National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory on Tuesday confirmed the cases as type-A foot-and-mouth disease.

To prevent the disease from spreading, local authorities have sealed off and sterilized the infected area, where 239 heads of cattle have been culled and safely disposed of, according to the MOA.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a contagious and sometimes fatal virus that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild species within the family Bovidae.