February 11, 2011

South Korea to inspect burial sites for culled animals

The South Korean government will carry out a broad examination of all burial sites for cattle and pigs culled to stop the further spread of FMD amid concerns that any irresponsible burial may bring about an environmental disaster.

This was according to a lawmaker on Thursday (Feb 10).

The decision was made in a follow-up meeting between the government and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) held at the National Assembly about ways to contain the highly contagious animal disease, Rep. Kim Young-woo of the GNP said.

Since the first FMD outbreak was confirmed on November 29, Seoul has destroyed more than 3.16 million heads of cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and deer.

There have been mounting concerns that torrential rain, frequent between spring and summer, could wash away unstable soil at the burial sites and the blood from the slaughtered animals could contaminate groundwater.

The two sides, however, decided not to create a supplementary budget to pay compensation for the livestock farmers hit by FMD or efforts to contain the disease as the government has set aside a sufficient amount of money from a reserve fund for that purpose, Kim said.