Border provinces including Xinjiang and Gansu have been ordered to step up patrols and prevent the disease from entering.
A small outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in northwestern China has prompted the country to tighten border controls, speed up vaccinations and cull livestock. According to authorities, the disease came from abroad. THE Ministry of Agriculture said last weekend that it had started slaughtering animals and disinfecting affected areas after outbreaks hit livestock, affecting 6,229 cattle in Gansu Province and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
On Monday, authorities said the outbreak entered China through its northwestern border, a region that touches Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia and other countries. The border provinces, including Xinjiang and Gansu, were ordered to intensify patrols and prevent the disease from entering through smuggling or illegal transportation, according to official warnings. “The current outbreak threatens a large region and prevention and control are under severe pressure,” said Rosa Wang, an analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co.
Industry analysts said it was the first time that the SAT-1 serotype — a type of disease endemic in Africa — was detected in China, and that existing domestic vaccines for the more common serotypes O and A do not offer protection. Since 2025, SAT-1 has spread from Africa to regions of the Middle East, West Asia, and South Asia.
The outbreak comes as Russia battles a serious bovine disease outbreak in the Siberian region of Novosibirsk, which borders Kazakhstan and is about 1,200 km (750 miles) and 2,500 km, respectively, from the outbreak sites in Xinjiang and Gansu.
In a report published March 20, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the scale of China’s response may indicate an unconfirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Russia has denied any such outbreak.
*Reuters
