Chinese Capital to Build Animal Disease Prevention Center

Chinese capital to build animal disease prevention center BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) — Beijing city will spend nearly 200 million yuan (about 12.5 million US dollars) to build an animal disease prevention and control center, said an official with the municipal veterinary station Thursday.

Covering 4.6 hectares of land with over 20,000 square meters of floor space, the center will include a command center, a check-up and diagnosis center, a center to test animal product safety, a service building, and other facilities.

The center will collect, analyse and deal with information concerning various animal diseases, diagnose outbreaks of diseases and test veterinary medicines.

Liu Yaqing, deputy director of the municipal agriculture bureau, said that Beijing will reinforce prevention and control work of five animal related diseases including bird flu and hydrophobia, as well as monitoring of animal farms, slaughterhouses, and other related sites.

An official with the municipal government held that the new center will enhance Beijing’s overall capability to control animal diseases.

Beijing is accelerating build-up of the prevention and control system for animal diseases, to ensure safety of animal products, said the official.