WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Sheep farmers in Inner Mongolia say a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease may be threatening their sheep herds, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday.
Local sheep farmers in the Taohai township region of Wuyuan county have told the Washington-based RFA's Mandarin language service that in recent months many of their sheep herds have been afflicted with the symptoms of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth, a malady that targets all cloven-hoofed species.
Officials in Chinese-ruled Inner Mongolia confirmed to RFA that there was an illness affecting sheep in the Taohai area, but they denied it was foot-and-mouth.
However, "farmers described sheep with sore hooves and mouths, unable to eat and often wasting away as a result of the disease, RFA said.
"China banned imports of cloven-hoofed animals on Feb. 13 citing outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Vietnam and Mongolia," RFA said.
The radio also cited official Chinese media reports last week that authorities in Erlian on China's border with independent Mongolia had stepped up quarantine and monitoring of the disease.
