In Hung Yen, the disease has hit the commune of Phung Hung in Khoai Chau district infecting 50 pigs, 10 of which have already been destroyed.

The pandemic has also affected Do Thanh commune in the Yen Thanh district of Nghe An province and all of the 44 newly-infected pigs have been culled.

In Ha Nam, the disease has spread to 3 communes in Duy Tien and Thanh Liem districts. 45 pigs have been infected in Thanh Thuy commune alone where 10 of them died or have been destroyed.

According to the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee, the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (blue-ear disease in pigs) has spread to 26 communes with a total of 1,450 infected pigs, of which 575 have been destroyed.

According to the Bac Giang Veterinary Bureau, three samples of serum taken recently in Luc Ngan dictrict have also tested positive for the virus. The district currently has 3,357 sick pigs and 947 of them have been destroyed.

The Bureau said one of the reasons for the spread of the pandemic is that some pig breeders do not inform their local veterinary office of their sick pigs and try to sell them.

The Nam Dinh Veterinary Bureau has announced that 79 pigs in Truc My commune have died of the disease and that 443 pig farmers in 60 villages in Truc Ninh district are affected, recording 2,726 sick pigs, 1,189 of which have been destroyed.

The Veterinary Department has warned that the situation is getting more complicated not only in the Red River Delta but also in mountain provinces like Hoa Binh and Cao Bang.

Localities need to introduce stricter measures to prevent the pandemic from spreading by disinfecting breeding facilities and vaccinating every pig against the disease, said the Department.