(LEAD) Outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease reported in S. Korea

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SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth
disease at a dairy farm north of Seoul, the first such outbreak in eight years,
officials said Thursday.

Nine of some 185 milk cows at the farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul
in Gyeonggi Province, have tested positive for the disease, the Ministry for
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
Foot-and-mouth disease is highly contagious, affecting cattle, pigs, deer, goats
and sheep. The disease causes blisters on the mouth and feet of livestock and
leads to death. It is rarely transmitted to humans.
"We beefed up quarantine measures, and more measures are being taken to prevent
the disease from spreading," said an official at the ministry.
South Korea was hit by the disease in 2000 and 2002. In 2000, losses reached 300
billion won (US$319 million), while the 2002 outbreak cost 150 billion won.
South Korea has been currently classified as a "clean" area with no cases
reported since February 2002. But the latest cases of the disease are feared to
lead to the country's trading partners turning away pork and beef imports from
South Korea.
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