(LEAD) S. Korea confirms two more outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease

(ATTN: RECASTS title, lead; UPDATES with more details throughout)
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has reported two more foot-and-mouth
disease (FMD) outbreaks this year at dairy farms in Pocheon, 45 kilometers north
of Seoul, the government said Saturday.

The animals at the two farms started showing symptoms on Friday, leading local
quarantine officials to order 124 head of dairy cattle to be culled and buried
even before detailed test results were received, the Ministry for Food,
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
Under revised rules, local quarantine officials can order animals to be culled
without conclusive FMD test results and make reporting all suspected cases to
authorities mandatory. A total of 3,105 livestock have been killed so far as
authorities scramble to stem the spread of the disease.
Livestock within a 500-meter radius of the new FMD sites will be culled to
prevent the spread of the disease.
Both farms are within a 1-kilometer radius of the farm that reported the
country's first FMD outbreak in eight years on Jan. 7. The farms had been under
close observation, with quarantine officials banning the movement of animals and
decontaminating people and vehicles leaving the area.
A second FMD case was confirmed on Thursday, with the ministry and National
Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service maintaining close watch on hundreds of
farms around the country. South Korea was hit by the highly contagious animal
disease in 2000 and 2002, with 15 and 16 cases reported in those years,
respectively.
FMD affects all cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, hogs and goats, causing
blisters on the feet and mouth of livestock and sometimes death. It can be spread
via air, feed and imported farm products that have not been sterilized. Humans,
though not affected by the disease, can be carriers.
Seoul said it will fully compensate farmers who have to cull and bury animals and
will purchase animals from nearby farms that have been barred from selling
animals due to the FMD outbreak.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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