Russian vets fear spread of foot-and-mouth

Fifteen cows in the Far East Primorye region of Russia are exhibiting symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease, the regional veterinary agency said today, suggesting the highly contagious illness was spreading.

Earlier this week, authorities said 123 head of cattle in a neighbouring region, Khabarovsk, had the Asia-1 strain of the disease.

The chief of the Primorye branch of the veterinary monitoring agency, Vladimir Semenov, had said that the disease spreads on average by 75 to 94 miles every day.