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China Flies Vaccine To Area Affected By Deadly Pig Disease
Beijing (AFP) Jul 31, 2005 The first batch of vaccine for treating a mysterious pig-borne disease that has killed at least 34 people in China was flown Sunday to the southwestern province of Sichuan, state media said. About 160 boxes of vaccine for treating streptococcus suis bacteria -- enough for 350,000 pigs -- was sent from the southern city of Guangzhou by plane to Sichuan, where the disease was first found, Xinhua news agency said. Larger quantities of the vaccine, enough for 10 million pigs, were being manufactured and would be sent to the areas affected by the disease, the report said, quoting the vaccine supplier, Guangzhou-based Yongshun Biomedical Company. "It is the first massive production of the vaccines for streptococcus swine type II in China and experts from the ministry of agriculture has monitored the whole process of production," Xinhua said. As of late Saturday, the number of people killed by the epidemic, which is usually spread among pigs, rose to 34 while the number of cases increased to The health ministry had not updated the toll Sunday. Meanwhile, Health Minister Gao Qiang called on local officials to step up precautions against the disease and to keep casualties to a minimum.
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