November 16, 2011

South Korean farm reports suspected case of FMD

A farm in Cheongsong, South Korea was reported to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the government said Tuesday (Nov 15).

The report came earlier in the day that 16 pigs at the farm showed symptoms, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

Government officials are conducting quarantine inspections at the site and plan to announce the results on Wednesday (Nov 16).

If confirmed, it will be the first outbreak of FMD in seven months after the latest case occurred at a pig farm in Yeongcheon, 344 kilometres southeast of Seoul, on April 20 this year.

South Korea was forced to kill about 3.5 million livestock, mostly cow and pigs, last winter because of the country's severest outbreak of FMD.