February 10, 2011

 

FMD, bird flu outbursts inflict billion-damage to South Korea

 

 

Recent nationwide FMD and bird flu outbreaks are estimated to have cost South Korea KRW2 trillion (US$1.8 billion), a government official said Wednesday (Feb 9).

 

Since the first FMD case was confirmed on November 29, Seoul has culled and buried 3.22 million heads of cattle, pigs, goats and deer, with the number of birds destroyed to combat the avian influenza (AI) hitting 5.41 million since late last year.

 

"Estimates need to be updated constantly, but the current tally stood at KRW1.9 trillion (US$1.7 billion) for FMD and around KRW100 billion (US$90.03 million) for bird flu," farm ministry spokesman Ahn Ho-keun said.

 

In terms of livestock culled so far, the outbreaks are the severest in the country's history.

 

Costs cover the culling of animals and compensation given to farmers as well as nationwide vaccination efforts that began on December 25, which aim to prevent more FMD cases.

 

All vaccines are imported from abroad by a special order, and all of the country's 13 million heads of cattle and pigs are scheduled to be given at least two shots by the end of this month.

 

The official, however, said that with the vaccinations starting to take effect, there may be fewer animal disease outbreak cases reported in the future.

 

"The last FMD outbreak was confirmed on Monday (Feb 7), with the number of suspected cases for AI also dropping off noticeably," he said.

 

The spokesman said that if there are no more cases, farms will be able to restock on livestock starting in March.

 

"Under existing quarantine rules, animals can be restocked following the lifting of movement restrictions on animals in a contaminated area," he said.

 

Restrictions are eased three weeks after the last outbreak and the decontamination of contaminated farms has been carried and checked by authorities.

 

He said depending on where a farm is located, new animals can be bought in the next few weeks in some places.

 

"In places such as North Gyeongsang Province, where there have not been any FMD cases for some time, restocking could start in a few weeks, while it may take longer for the Gyeonggi region adjacent to Seoul where risks are still high," he said.