China in denial over foot and mouth cull

Attempt to hide slaughter echoes response to bird flu and Sars

• Jonathan Watts in Dabailou village
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• The Guardian,  24 May 2005

In the idyllic setting of the Beijing countryside a short drive north of the Great Wall, a secret slaughter is taking place.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of cows have been killed in Dabailou village since the start of the month in a frantic attempt to stem one of China's worst foot and mouth disease scares.

But instead of warning the nation's farmers and turning the village into a quarantine area, the authorities have mounted a botched attempt to cover up the news.

In the wake of recent outbreaks of Sars and bird flu, Beijing promised to be more open in its reporting of disease control. But the domestic public and international authorities have been told nothing of the cull in this small village in the heart of north China's dairy industry.

According to residents, between 500 and 2,000 cows have been slaughtered since the pathogen was found in local cattle stocks at the end of last month.

Local roads are cordoned off and guarded by police and wardens wearing armbands. They refuse to explain why entry is denied.

Chinese journalists know about the outbreak, but the central government's propaganda department has forbid den them to publish or broadcast the news.

Earlier this year a similar ban was slapped on reports about foot and mouth in pigs - which pose the biggest risk of infection to other animals - in 10 provinces. After the devastation of chicken and duck flocks during the avian flu outbreak last year, the government will not want to lose its pork and beef export industries, which are together worth $230m (about £126m).

Officials at the agriculture ministry told the South China Morning Post they were unaware of the outbreak in Dabailou. The spokesman's office could not be reached for comment.

Senior officials in Jiuxian township, which has jurisdiction over the village and at least two other affected villages, claimed ignorance.

"I haven't heard anything," said Si Yanzhong, vice general secretary of the town. "Who would report such a thing?"

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation said it had not been notified of any outbreak near Beijing.

Amid widespread speculation that the epidemic has swept more than a dozen provinces, the Chinese government made its first ever report of foot and mouth to the international body earlier this month. But it said the disease, which is highly contagious and deadly for cattle but harmless for humans, had been found only in cows in the eastern cities of Tai'an and Wuxi, both far from the capital and not reliant on cattle farming.

In Dabailou, which is a big dairy centre, locals were astonished that word about the infection in their community had not spread further afield.

"Haven't you heard?" said a shopkeeper, explaining why there was no milk for sale. "They've had to kill 1,000 local cows because of Asia-one type foot and mouth disease." She said the cull had taken place around the time of the Labour Day holiday on May 1.

Peasants working in the field of Houluzhuang, a neighbouring village, told a similar story. "They killed more than 500 head of cattle about 10 days ago. The carcasses are all buried in a field," said one man.

The only semi-denial came from a dairy worker, who was cleaning his milk truck. "I don't know anything about problems with the cows here," he said.

But a few kilometres outside the police cordons cattle farmers said they had been informed of the nearby outbreak. "It's no big deal," said a woman tending half a dozen black-and-white dairy cows. "Our animals are safe because they have not had any contact with the ones with foot and mouth in Dabailou. In any case, they have all been vaccinated."

Locals said the disease was now under control. But at the road blocks there were no precautions, such as disinfectant trays for boots and tyres, to prevent the disease being carried by humans or vehicles. Police even tell visitors how to circumvent the cordons by taking back roads.

Given the threat to livelihoods of a wider cull, the reluctance of village officials and farmers to report the outbreak is understandable, but there are concerns about the response of higher authorities.

"Sars and bird flu led to improvements and promises of more openness, but there are big questions about the reporting system. China is still far from transparent. There are too many disincentives for officials and farmers to report problems," said an international health expert.

But although foot and mouth poses no risks to humans, a botched cover-up could worsen the sense of public distrust and panic - as well as the risk of infection - as it did during the Sars controversy two years ago.