January 25, 2011

South Korea kills one-fourth domestic pigs due to FMD

South Korea's ongoing FMD outbreaks have led the government to cull one-fourth of local pigs across the country, giving a severe blow to the livestock sector.

As of Monday (Jan 24) morning, the government had ordered the culling of more than 2.38 million pigs, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

The number accounts for 24.1% of the total number of pigs in the country, which stood at about 9.88 million as of the fourth quarter last year, according to Statistics Korea.

South Korea, meanwhile, reported another outbreak of the highly contagious animal disease in the southeastern region late Monday (Jan 24).

The farm ministry said the pigs at a farm in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, tested positive for FMD. This marks the first occurrence of the disease in the province.

The latest outbreak raises the number of FMD cases officially tallied by the government to 137. The deadly animal disease has hit eight cities and provinces so far since it was first confirmed on November 29 last year in Andong.