December 30, 2010

 

South Korea curbs FMD by opening crisis centre

 

 

In order to contain the latest foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks, South Korea will set up a pan-governmental crisis centre, the government said on Wednesday (Dec 29).

 

The highly contagious disease, first confirmed in the latest string of outbreaks on November 29 at farms about 270 kilometres southeast of Seoul, has spread to other areas of the country since then, sparking concerns that it can wreck havoc on the country's livestock industry.

 

In a joint statement, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the central anti-disaster headquarters will be in charge of quarantine, decontamination and vaccination efforts currently underway and will also combine all available resources to terminate the outbreaks.

 

"The government will use all available resources, including the police, to help stem the animal disease that has continued to spread despite nationwide quarantine efforts," the statement said.

 

In addition, the country's alert level will be raised to red, the highest in a four-tiered response scheme, to show the severity of the situation.

 

The last time Seoul issued a red alert was when the country tried to combat the human Influenza A outbreaks that hit the country in the second half of 2009.

 

The farm ministry, meanwhile, said it has expanded areas that will be given animal vaccines to control the spread of FMD.

 

"Vaccines will be administered in 12 regions across the country from the initial five announced last week, with over 236,000 animals in 8,700 farms slated to get shots," it said.

 

The first vaccines were administered on Saturday (Dec 25).

 

The emergency measures are needed since the disease is spreading much faster than anticipated, officials said, admitting that they have not been able to fully determine why outbreaks are spreading despite 1,391 checkpoints established in key areas and the closure of all 85 livestock markets.

 

Currently, more than 523,000 animals have been ordered to be culled from a total of about 1.5 million cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and deer raised in the country, with losses estimated to exceed KRW450 billion (US$395 million).

 

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. Countries that report outbreaks are barred from exporting meat. South Korea was hit by the disease in 2000 and 2002 and two more times earlier this year.