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

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, comments from para 3)
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth
disease (FMD) at a dairy farm north of Seoul, the first such outbreak in eight
years, the government said Thursday.
Six out 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.
FMD is highly contagious and affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs,
deer, goats and sheep. The disease causes blisters on the feet and mouth of
livestock and can lead to death in some animals, although it is rarely
transmitted to humans.
"We have banned the movement of animals, started wide-scale decontamination
measures and have started to cull and bury all animals in an effort to prevent
the spread of the disease," Lee Sang-soo, head of the ministry's animal
quarantine division, said.
Authorities have started culling 2,000 head of livestock within a 500 meter
radius of the dairy farm, including 1,500 pigs and dozens of deer.
He also said that in accordance with the current emergency operating system, the
country's alert level has been raised to "yellow" from "blue," with authorities
to step up monitoring at all international airports and harbors. The country
maintains a four-tiered monitoring system that uses "orange" and "red" to
indicate more serious outbreaks.
"The exact cause of the outbreak has yet to be determined, but it could have been
brought in by overseas travelers, imported hay or meat products," the official
said. He said the ministry has ordered close observation of all livestock farms
to see if there are any other cases.
The expert said that under rules set by the Paris-based World Organization for
Animal Health (OIE), exports of meat from cloven-hoofed livestock will be halted.
The country will also lose its OIE "clean" country status it earned Nov. 29,
2002.
The country exports pork and beef to only a handful of countries, such as Japan.
"After all potentially infected animals have been culled, and there are no new
outbreaks in three months, the government can ask the OIE to restore its 'clean'
area status again," he said.
South Korea was hit by the disease in 2000 and 2002. In 2000, losses reached
300.6 billion won (US$264.7 million), while the 2002 outbreak cost 143.4 billion
won.
The ministry, meanwhile, said the outbreak poses no serious health concerns since
the FMD virus can be killed by cooking.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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