May 3, 2010

Korean government to control FMD decontamination

The Korean government will take charge of nationwide decontamination efforts to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth animal disease (FMD), which has hit three provinces since early April, government officials said Monday (May 3).

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MFAFF) said the government will expand a 13-person task force chaired by the farm minister to include officials from public administration, defense ministries and the police for closer cooperation.

Closer inter-governmental ties are needed as over 8,000 soldiers and police are employed to help the animal quarantine effort, they said, adding that Seoul will directly cross-check efforts to contain the spread of the disease.

The country has effectively been on the highest alert, but the disease has spread from the Gyeonggi region to North and South Chungcheong provinces. A total of 49,130 animals have been culled and buried so far with damages estimated to hit around KRW160 billion (US$143.7 million), not counting around KRW100 billion worth of soft loans to buy new animals that will be given to farmers after the outbreak is contained.

At present, local administrations have been charged with checking the spread of the disease, but the recent outbreak at a state-managed livestock and veterinary research institute in South Chungcheong Province has raised concerns about the government's quarantine system. The province accounts for 18% of all cloven-hoofed animals raised in the country.

Park added that while the exact cause has not been determined, tests conducted on the virus in the Chungcheong region in the central part of the country are similar to those on Ganghwa Island, about 60 kilometres west of Seoul, where the first case was reported on April 8.

He said as a precautionary measure, some breeding cows raised at a special state-run research centre in Seosan 151km from the capital city will be sent to two other locations. The research facility raises hanwoo beef cattle and provides animal husbandry services.