December 2, 2010

South Korea reports three more suspected FMD cases

South Korea reported three more suspected cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on Wednesday (Dec 1) despite its strong efforts to stop the spread of the animal disease.

The suspected cases were reported at cow farms in a southeastern city where an outbreak was first reported on Monday (Nov 29). The results of tests on additional farms will be available today (Dec 2), according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

South Korea has taken strong measures to stop the spread of the animal disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals, including pigs, sheep and goats, since the outbreak was reported at two pig farms in the southeastern city of Andong, about 270 kilometres southeast of Seoul.

The government has closed all farms except for 15 - more than 82% of livestock markets throughout the country - while the provincial government of the southern resort island of Jeju had voluntarily shut down the island's two livestock markets, according to the ministry.

The price of domestic beef shot up 9.6% on Tuesday (Nov 30) as the number of cattle slaughtered dropped from the daily average of 930 heads in October to 273 heads on Monday when tests on the two pig farms confirmed an outbreak of the disease. The disease and meat from infected animals do not affect humans.

An additional case was also confirmed on Tuesday (Nov 30) at a cow farm in Andong. The affected farms have 9,150 heads of animals but an additional 24,000 animals at nearby farms will also be culled to prevent a further spread, the ministry said.

"All affected farms are now restricted to outside visitors. Only the owners and workers were asked to stay within the farms," the ministry said.

A suspected case at a farm located 34 kilometres northeast of Andong was reported earlier but laboratory tests came back with negative results.