Over 60 pigs in Vietnam's northern Hai Phong City have died suddenly since late last month, while hundreds of others have become ill, local newspaper Pioneer reported Monday.

All the deaths and sickening among pigs in the city's Vinh Baorural district are caused by two common diseases named Lepto spirosis and Pasteurella multocida, according to the Hai Phong Veterinary Bureau.

To prevent spread of the two diseases, the bureau has offered farmers 1,000 doses of vaccines to vaccinate pigs, buffaloes, bulls and cows, and sprayed chemicals to disinfect affected areas.

Vietnam now has over 20 million pigs which turn out some 1.5 million tons of meat annually. It earned 40 million US dollars from exporting nearly 30,000 tons of pork, mainly to Chinese Hong Kong, Malaysia and Russia, in 2001.

Source: Xinhua