Seoul to quarantine for foot-and-mouth

The Seoul city government said Wednesday that it would take preventive measures against foot-and-mouth disease amid escalating concerns over its spread.

As of Wednesday, more than 63,000 livestock at 63 farms nationwide had been culled, mostly in Gyeonggi Province and North Chungcheong Province, since the first reported outbreak on Dec. 5.

The capital will conduct antibody tests on all livestock in national parks in the city and vaccinate all animals that have not yet been immunized, officials said. The city will also strengthen monitoring of the animals, they added.

The city has run a quarantine task force since late last year to better cope with potential cases. It also launched emergency situation rooms at seven sites to enhance its quarantine response.

Earlier this week, dozens of pigs at two farms in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, tested positive, quarantine authorities said. The animals were suddenly unable to stand, a common symptom of foot-and-mouth, they added.

Two other cases were confirmed in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, 40 kilometers south of Seoul, the Agriculture Ministry said.

The outbreak is suspected to have started in unvaccinated pigs at a farm, it added.

South Korea has been hit five times by foot-and-mouth disease since 2000, with three occurrences in 2010.

More than 3.4 million animals were slaughtered in the largest outbreak, in late 2010, resulting in losses of more than 2.7 trillion won ($2.5 billion).

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)