Kim Young-jin
Foot-and-mouth disease, which has caused South Korea to put down some two million heads of livestock, may have hit North Korea as well, officials here said Tuesday.
The officials cited recent visitors to the North who claim the disease broke out late last year in the northern part of the country.
North Korean authorities are increasing quarantine and disinfecting efforts in a bid to prevent the highly-contagious disease from spreading, they said.
It remains unclear where the outbreak may have originated.
Pyongyang late last month banned pork and beef from the South, fearing spread of the disease.
The North is last widely known to have suffered an outbreak of the disease in 2007. Seoul sent a team of experts to help stem the disease amid a reconciliatory atmosphere.
Nearly all cross-border exchanges have been halted by the Lee Myung-bak administration in the wake of the March sinking of a South Korean warship, an incident blamed on the North.
Foot and mouth disease, which spreads mostly through direct contact between animals, causes high fevers followed by blisters on the mouth and feet of cloven-hoofed livestock. It spreads to humans only in rare cases |
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