(3rd LD) S. Korea confirms 2nd outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details from paras 5-7)
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- The government said Thursday it has confirmed a second
foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak at a cattle farm in Pocheon, 45 kilometers
north of Seoul.

The animals at the farm began showing symptoms of FMD early Wednesday, causing
local quarantine officials to order 15 "hanwoo" cattle to be culled and buried,
the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. Hanwoo refers to
a breed of meat cattle indigenous to Korea.
It said of the animals culled at the hanwoo farm, two tested positive for FMD.
The farm is 3.5 kilometers from the site of the first outbreak of FMD, which was
reported last week.
The ministry added that it has culled livestock within a 500-meter radius of the
cattle farm to prevent further outbreaks of the highly contagious disease, and
has ordered the burial of animals in all farms visited by a veterinarian who
checked cattle at the farm where the first confirmed cases of FMD were reported
last week.
A total of 2,394 meat and dairy cattle, hogs and deer were culled from 24 farms
during the day. Of the total, 604 cattle from 12 farms were ordered to be
destroyed as a precautionary measure.
The number of animals culled at 30 farms has reached 2,981 since the outbreak was
first confirmed last Thursday.
The veterinarian inspected animals at the dairy farm where the first signs of the
disease appeared on Jan. 2. He conducted on-site checks using an "ELISA" test
kit, which produced negative results, and tended animals at several other farms
through last Thursday.
The ELISA test kit has been cited as an unreliable method to test for FMD, as it
can only determine the presence of the disease if an animal has developed an
antigen or antibody.
The FMD outbreak reported last week was the first to hit the country in eight
years. The highly contagious disease affects all cloven-hoofed animals such as
cattle, hogs and goats, causing blisters on the feet and mouth of livestock and
sometimes leading to death. Experts said that while the disease has only affected
cows so far, it can easily spread to hogs.
The country was hit by FMD outbreaks in 2000 and 2002, with 15 and 16 cases
reported in those years, respectively.
The government said it has stepped up inspections of around 600 farms across the
country that may have been infected with the FDM virus. It said if there are
signs of infected animals, quarantine officials will order culling and burying to
stem the spread of the disease, with all people and cars entering quarantine
zones to be subject to a decontamination process.
To counter the spread of the disease, Seoul might ban farms that do not take
preventative measures for a period of time.
At present, farmers who fail to report outbreaks promptly are barred from
receiving full compensation for animals culled, while a veterinarian who does not
report a suspected case can face criminal charges.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)

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