China tightens border controls, culls cattle amid foot-and-mouth outbreak

BEIJING – China has tightened border controls, fast-tracked vaccines and begun culling cattle after a small outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the north-west that officials say entered from abroad.

The Ministry of Agriculture said last weekend it had started culling animals and disinfecting affected areas after outbreaks hit herds totalling 6,229 cattle in Gansu province and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Industry analysts said it was the first time the SAT-1 serotype – a type of the disease endemic in Africa – had been detected in China, and that existing domestic vaccines for the more common O and A serotypes do not provide protection.

Since 2025, SAT-1 has spread from Africa to parts of the Middle East, West Asia and South Asia.

The authorities said on March 30 that the outbreak entered China via the north-west border, a region that touches Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia and other countries.

Border provinces, including Xinjiang and Gansu, were ordered to step up patrols and prevent the disease from entering through smuggling or illegal transport, according to official notices.

“The current outbreak threatens a large region, and prevention and control are under severe pressure,” said Ms Rosa Wang, an analyst from Shanghai JC Intelligence.

The outbreak comes as Russia battles a severe cattle disease outbreak in the Siberian Novosibirsk region, which borders Kazakhstan and is about 1,200km and 2,500km from the outbreak sites in Xinjiang and Gansu, respectively.

In a report published on March 20, the US 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.

Animal diseases have previously crossed into China from Russia, including African swine fever in 2018 and foot-and-mouth serotype O in 2000 and 2014.

“It is not out of the question that China could adopt restrictions on Russian livestock products if it has reason to believe the transmission originated there,” said Ms Even Pay, director at Trivium China. “But it’s more challenging if such outbreaks aren’t reported.”

China said this week that the strain spreads easily, can cause major production losses and has a mortality rate exceeding 50 per cent in young animals.

SAT-1 spreads mainly through direct contact but can also be transmitted through the air, with airborne spread stronger than that of the more common A and O serotypes, analysts said.

Two vaccines targeting SAT-1 produced by Zhongnong Weite Biotechnology received emergency veterinary drug approvals on April 1, according to China’s National Veterinary Drug Database.

Industry observers said the shots could reach the market within a month.

China’s livestock sector has been grappling with falling meat prices, overcapacity and weak consumer demand.

“If it is not controlled well, cattle prices could drop first and then rise again later as herd numbers fall,” said Mr Xu Hong Zhi, an analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants. REUTERS