Date: Tue 21 Dec 2010
South Korea confirmed an additional case of foot-and-mouth disease
(FMD) yesterday [20 Dec 2010] at a cattle farm northwest of Seoul,
indicating that the disease has effectively spread across the country
despite extensive quarantine efforts.
The latest case was found at a farm in Goyang, a city adjacent to the
capital, where local authorities detected animals showing symptoms
such as excessive drooling and blisters on the tongue Sunday [19 Dec
2010], the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
"All 53 head of cattle on the farm have been culled to prevent further
spread of the disease," it said.
The report comes a day after the disease was confirmed at a farm in
Paju, 7.5 km north of the latest outbreak, and 6 days after pig farms
in Yangju and Yeoncheon had confirmed FMD cases. The outbreaks in
Yangju and Yeoncheon north of Seoul marked the 1st time the disease
was confirmed outside of North Gyeongsang Province, where authorities
verified the 1st case on 29 Nov 2010.
Korea has so far reported 54 suspected cases, 37 of which have been
confirmed positive. In 4 other cases, the cattle were destroyed as
precautionary measures before positive test results were confirmed.
Over 194 000 animals have been destroyed or are subject to culling,
the largest number in the country's history of the disease.
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