Gov't to cull 2,000 head of livestock to contain foot-and-mouth disease

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- The government said Tuesday that it will cull and bury
2,000 head of livestock as a precautionary measure to contain this year's
foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak.

The farm ministry said the measures follow the confirmation of an outbreak late
last week in Pocheon, 45 kilometers north of Seoul.
"The animals to be slaughtered are from 11 farms that had regular contact with
the latest confirmed FMD case and could have been contaminated," Lee Sang-soo,
head of the ministry's animal health division, said.
He said the farms shared the same feed trucks, vehicles used to haul animals, and
that their owners were involved in regular gatherings. People are not affected by
the animal disease but can become carriers.
"About 500 head of cattle and 1,500 pigs are to be culled even though none have
shown symptoms of the highly contagious disease so far," the official said.
The ministry, meanwhile, said it will step up observation of farms across the
country to quickly detect possible outbreaks that can gain momentum with the
onset of warmer weather.
It said on-site inspectors will be given authority to order the culling of
animals if there are signs of sick animals without waiting for test results that
take more than eight hours after animal samples reach the laboratory.
The government said Saturday it has confirmed the country's sixth outbreak of
foot-and-mouth disease this year at a dairy cattle farm. The farm, located 3.8
kilometers away from where the first outbreak was confirmed on Jan. 7, reported
blisters on some of its animals the previous day.
The animal disease affects all cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, hogs, goats
and deers, causing blisters on the feet and mouths of livestock and sometimes
leading to death.
It can be spread via air, feed and imported farm products that have not been
sterilized.
South Korea was hit twice before by the FMD disease in 2000 and 2002. Losses from
the 2000 outbreak centered on cattle and reached 300.6 billion won (US$259.8
million), while the 2002 outbreak cost 143.4 billion won as the disease spread
through pigs. As of last week the government had ordered the killing of more than
3,500 animals.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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