The news agency Reuters reported that China has recorded 219 cases of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle in Gansu and Sinkiang provinces, located in the northwest of the country, bordering Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia, among others.
China’s Ministry of Agriculture said last Friday that the outbreak affected two farms, with a total of 6,229 head of cattle, and that control measures have already been implemented, including culling.
The detected virus strain is SAT-1, originally from Africa, which has spread to the Middle East and Asia. Available vaccines do not provide immunity against this strain, although vaccines have reportedly been developed in a specialized laboratory.
“The current outbreak threatens a wide region and prevention and control are under great pressure,” said Rosa Wang, an analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co.
Russia has denied having outbreaks, but the USDA has suggested that it could be the origin. “It cannot be ruled out that China may adopt restrictions on Russian livestock products if it has reason to believe the transmission originated there,” said Even Pay, director at Trivium China. “But it becomes more complicated if such outbreaks are not reported,” he added.
In the first two months of 2026, China imported 922 tons of frozen bone-in beef and 2,014 tons of boneless beef from Russia.
