BEIJING, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A Chinese official has been fired over an outbreak of blue ear disease that killed over 1,000 pigs in the northern province of Shanxi, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday. The animal health official in Hongtong, Shanxi, was fired for mishandling the outbreak, Xinhua said. It did not elaborate. The agriculture ministry announced on Tuesday that blue ear disease had killed 1,056 pigs, mostly piglets. The deaths led the province to launch an investigation. A widespread outbreak in 2007 of blue ear disease, which mostly strikes breeding sows and piglets, helped create a shortage of pork in 2008. China has since instituted a vaccination programme across the country. Beijing's stricter controls over live pig transport and the vaccination campaign mean the chance of a large scale outbreak is slim, unlike two years ago when about 1 million pigs died. Chinese officials often try to prevent bad news from leaking out for fear it will harm their careers. (Reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
HIV infected children play in an orphanage run by the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association in Fuyang, Anhui province February 11, 2009. China's Ministry of Health has announced, last month, plans ...
