January 10, 2011
South Korea reports additional FMD outbreaks
South Korea confirmed more foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks near Seoul and on the east coast, despite the country's quarantine efforts to contain the spread of the highly contagious FMD.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said two pig farms in the Gyeonggi region south of Seoul, and a dairy cow ranch in Incheon, 40 kilometres to the west of the capital, all tested positive for the highly contagious animal disease.
It added animals at a small cattle farm in Gangneung, on the east coast, contracted FMD.
All 64 heads of cattle and 17,900 pigs on the farms have been ordered culled and buried to prevent the spread of FMD, with livestock within a 500-metre radius of the latest outbreaks to be destroyed as a precautionary measure.
The farms had been quarantined as of Thursday (Jan 6) after some animals started to show symptoms, like excessive drooling, blisters on their snouts and teats, and loss of appetite, with some deaths reported among piglets.
The latest outbreaks pushed up the number of confirmed cases reported so far to 99, which do not include the handful of cases that are not officially counted as FMD outbreaks because the animals were destroyed before test results were confirmed.
The ministry, meanwhile, said that it has ordered the destruction of around 1.10 million animals at over 3,000 farms, with all 85 livestock farms in the country closed to limit the risk of the disease spreading.
It added 1.21 million cattle and pigs are to be vaccinated to contain the outbreak that has spread to five provinces and the port city of Incheon since the first outbreak was confirmed on November 29.
FMD is highly contagious and affects all cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, pigs and buffalo. It is classified as a "List A" disease by the World Organization for Animal Health, although it is harmless to humans.
The country was hit by the disease in 2000, 2002 and two more times early last year. Before the latest set of outbreaks, Seoul had used vaccines only once, in 2000, because it had little experience with the disease.
