Three more foot-and-mouth cases confirmed in Korea

Published : Feb 14, 2017 - 14:52 Updated : Feb 14, 2017 - 14:52

Three fresh foot-and-mouth disease cases were confirmed in central South Korea, the agriculture ministry here said Tuesday, amid rising concerns over a nationwide spread of the animal epidemic.

Cows at three farms located in Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, some 180 kilometers southeast of Seoul, tested positive for the contagious virus according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

(Yonhap)

With the latest infections, South Korea has had a total of nine confirmed FMD cases since the first outbreak was reported on Feb. 5. Out of the nine, seven broke out in Boeun, while each case was from the southwestern region of North Jeolla Province and Gyeonggi Province.

Last week, the government raised the watch level to the highest in the country's disease control system and closed all livestock trading markets across the nation while instituting a movement ban on animals until Feb. 28.

It is the first time in seven years that the country issued the highest alert against the FMD virus. In 2010, nearly 3.5 million FMD-infected cows and pigs were culled over nearly six months.

The FMD affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, sheep and pigs. South Korea reported its last outbreak of the disease on March 29 last year. The disease does not affect humans.

At the same time, the country has already been struggling with the rapidly spreading avian influenza for nearly three months, with more than 30 million chickens and ducks culled. (Yonhap)