China donates livestock vaccines to Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday donated 1 million doses of foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease vaccines to Cambodia to help prevent and control the spread of these diseases among cattle.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian handed over the vaccines to Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Phnom Penh.

The donation included 500,000 doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine and 500,000 doses of attenuated goatpox vaccine for lumpy skin disease of cattle, Wang said, adding that they were donated by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

"We hope that these vaccines will play a positive role in enhancing the health of livestock in Cambodia," he said.

The ambassador also highlighted good cooperation between the two countries in the agriculture sector, saying that more and more Cambodian agricultural products have been exported to China.

Speaking at the event, Tina said the vaccines were a "precious gift" to help protect the lives of cattle, saying that livestock sector has played an important role in increasing incomes and improving livelihoods for farmers as well as contributing to boosting national economy in the Southeast Asian country.

The minister said Cambodia has experienced outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, hemorrhagic septicemia, classical swine fever, avian influenza, African swine fever, and recently lumpy skin disease.

"Infectious diseases are the major obstacle to animal production, meat and animal product supplies at the markets, and the outbreaks of these infectious diseases have caused significant impact on livestock producers and economy," he said.