South Korea confirms foot-and-mouth, bird-flu cases

Seoul – South Korea confirmed Friday three more outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease as well as its first case of bird flu in two years, news reports said. Cattle on two farms in North Gyeongsang province in the country’s south-east and on one in Gyeonggi province near Seoul tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease, the Yonhap News Agency said, citing the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. the ministry said almost 300 head of cattle would be culled on the farms to try to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. the latest outbreak, the largest in South Korea’s history, began in late November with a confirmed case in Andong, 270 kilometres south-east of Seoul and has since spread to four provinces. the outbreak has led the government to order the culling of more than 580,000 animals and the vaccination of another 313,000. Total losses so far have been estimated at more than 520 billion won (460 million dollars). Foot-and-mouth disease affects all cloven-hoofed animals but rarely affects humans. the disease had hit South Korea twice this year already as well as in 2000 and 2002. Cases of at two poultry farms were also confirmed Friday at Cheonan and Iksan, 90 and 230 kilometers south of Seoul. Birds had started to exhibit symptoms Wednesday “Detailed tests conducted by the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service showed birds have been infected with the virulent H5N1 strain of avian influenza,” said Lee Sang Soo from the agriculture ministry’s animal quarantine division. Lee said local authorities had ordered the cull of 10,000 ducks and 17,000 chickens at the two farms Thursday to deal with the outbreak. Transporting birds within 10 kilometres of the farms was also banned. Another 92,000 chickens were due to be slaughtered as a precaution, Lee said. Bird-flu cases involving migratory birds were reported earlier in December and led to extra precautions on poultry farms, including netting to keep wild birds out. Avian influenza can be transmitted to humans, but South Korea has had no confirmed human infections to date. South Korea suffered previous outbreaks of avian flu in 2003-4, 2006-7 and 2008. In 2008, almost 8.5 million birds were culled to combat the disease. the latest outbreak will halt poultry exports.

Tagged as: bird flu, foot and mouth disease, hoofed animals, late november, outbreak, seoul south korea