An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Terengganu has worsened despite preventive measures by health authorities, officials said today.

Fhaisol Mohamad Amin, state veterinary officer, said the number of affected cows with the disease had surged to 207.

"Now is the paddy planting season. Much of the paddy fields have been ploughed and so the cows have moved to other areas in search of grass," he was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying.

Early this month health authorities reported that 30 cows in several villages were infected by the disease.

Fhaisol said the veterinary services department had advised farmers to keep their affected animals within restricted areas so that they would not infect other animals.

The department had supplied 6,000 doses of vaccine for the animals which had yet to be vaccinated in several areas in the Besut district, he said, but about 80 percent of the 17,000 cattle in the affected areas had been vaccinated.

Foot and mouth disease previously broke out in Terengganu in 1995.

Fhaisol urged farmers to report to the authorities if they found their animals to be infected. The symptoms include excess saliva and loss of appetite.