The HCM City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has ordered district animal health bureaus to keep out livestock and poultry from provinces that have reported outbreaks of animal diseases.

Several neighbouring provinces that supply livestock and poultry to the city, including Long An, Tien Giang, Binh Phuoc, and Dong Nai, have reported outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease.

City veterinary agencies have discovered that diseased pigs from provinces where the disease has been reported have been brought into the city because of poor oversight in those provinces, the Animal Health Sub-department said.

Besides, bird flu and blue ear disease in pigs, which resurface periodically in several provinces, are a threat to the city's livestock and poultry.

The city's Steering Committee for Epidemic Prevention has announced that households breeding livestock and poultry without registering with relevant agencies, of unknown origin, or without vaccinating them will not be assisted financially when epidemics break out./.