December 28, 2010

South Korea reports three more FMD outbreaks

South Korea acknowledged three more foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks on Monday (December 27), despite nationwide efforts to contain the highly contagious animal disease.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said a pig farm with 3,000 animals, located in the port city of Incheon, 40 kilometres west of Seoul, tested positive for the disease.

It also said that two small cattle farms in Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang Province, on the southeastern coast, and Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, east of the capital city, were infected by the FMD virus.

All three farms had been quarantined as of Sunday (Dec 26) after some animals started to drool excessively, refused to eat and developed blisters on their snouts and hooves.

The 3,012 pigs and cows on the farms have been destroyed to stop further spread of the disease, with other livestock within three kilometres of the Incheon farm and 500 metres of the two cattle farms to be culled and buried.

Related to the latest outbreak, the most severe in South Korea's history, the government announced on Wednesday (Dec 22) that it will opt to vaccinate cattle after nationwide quarantine and decontamination efforts failed to prevent the disease from spreading. It said over the weekend that vaccinations will be expanded to counter new outbreaks in the southeastern parts of Gyeonggi Province. Over 115,000 animals are earmarked for vaccination although the numbers may be adjusted.

After the first case was confirmed on November 29 in North Gyeongsang Province, the disease spread to Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces and the city of Incheon. There were a total of 56 confirmed cases and more than 443,000 animals were destroyed. There have been several other confirmed cases of the disease from animals that have already been culled, which are not included in the total.

Seoul has mobilised 144,342 quarantine personnel to man 1,200 checkpoints across the country and to take part in the decontamination and culling process.

FMD is highly contagious and affects all cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, pigs, deer, goats and buffalo, although it is harmless to humans. It is classified as a List A disease by the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health, with countries that report outbreaks barred from exporting meat.

The country was hit by the disease in 2000, 2002 and two more times earlier this. Authorities have ordered the culling of a record 299,700 livestock with estimated losses expected to hover around KRW400 billion (US$348 million).