BEIJING, Nov 9 (Reuters) - China has jailed three people who produced and sold fake vaccine for blue-ear disease, a porcine infection that has killed about a million hogs in the country and helped drive inflation, state media said on Friday.

The three were given jail sentences ranging from one and a half to 3 years for selling bogus vaccine that lead to the death of more than 500 pigs and losses of 328,250 yuan ($44,280) for a company in Jiangling county, in central Hubei province, the Beijing Youth Daily reported, citing a court official.

Police in Jiangling had also charged a local vaccine inspection official with "dereliction of duty" for his involvement in the case, the paper added.

China has been struggling to contain blue-ear disease, also known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome, which has contributed to pork shortages that have driven inflation since it first broke out in May 2006.

The number of hogs infected has fallen since reaching a peak in June due in part to a new vaccine, local authorities have said, but fake and shoddy vaccines have undermined efforts to control the disease. ($1=7.412 Yuan) (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Ken Wills and Alex Richardson)

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