March 8, 2007

North Korea reports foot-and-mouth outbreak; culls cows, pigs
 

North Korea has reported an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and culled hundreds of cattle to prevent the virus from spreading, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

The outbreak occurred in January at a farm in the capital, Pyongyang, sickening 431 cows, according to a North Korean government report dated Wednesday that was posted on the website of the Paris-based animal health agency, known by the initials OIE.

Since the outbreak, quarantine officials have killed a total of 466 cows, including the sick ones, as well as 2,630 pigs in efforts to prevent the spread of the disease, the North's agricultural ministry said in its report. Some 100,000 animals within the 70-kilometre radius of the outbreak site will be vaccinated, it added.

The sick cows were imported from Tieling, a city in China's Liaoning province, the report said, adding that North Korea's last FMD outbreak occurred in 1960.

FMD is not known to be a threat to humans, but it is highly contagious.