(LEAD) Gov't to cull 15 more cows to stem foot-and-mouth disease

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SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- The government said Wednesday that it will cull an
additional 15 heads of meat cattle as a precautionary measure to stem an outbreak
of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country.
The animals are all at a cattle ranch in Pocheon, 45 kilometers north of Seoul,
near the dairy farm where the first outbreak was confirmed Thursday, the Ministry
for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
"The cattle to be culled had been under close observation because the
veterinarian who checked animals in the farm where the first outbreak was
confirmed also tended animals in the meat cattle ranch," a ministry official
said.
The two farms are 3.5 kilometers apart and outside the 500 meter radius where all
cloven-hoofed livestock were culled and buried last week.
He said the animals to be culled tested negative for FMD when subject to the
"enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay" test but started showing minor signs of
infection earlier in the day.
"Since there is a chance the animal were infected, quarantine officials decided
to take swift measures to limit the spread of the highly contagious animal
disease," the official said.
The FMD outbreak reported last week is the first to hit the country in eight
years. The disease affects all cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs and
goats, causing blisters on the feet and mouth of livestock and sometimes causes
death. Experts said that while the disease affected cow this year, it can easily
spread to pigs.
The country was affected by FMD in 2000 and 2002 with 15 and 16 cases reported
respectively. Damages from the two outbreaks topped 440 billion won (US$390
million).
The government, meanwhile, culled and buried 309 cows and goats near the Pocheon
dairy farm and followed this with the culling of 240 heads of livestock at two
other farms over the weekend as a precautionary measure.
More than 500 farms around the country are being closely monitored with
quarantine officials checking movements of livestock, people and vehicles to
prevent the latest FMD outbreak from wrecking havoc with the country's livestock
business.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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