S.Korea to cull pigs to contain foot-and-mouth outbreak
( 2002-05-11 14:40) (7)
South Korea, battling to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, said on Saturday it would slaughter more livestock after two pigs tested positive.
The latest cases, a major blow to South Korea's livestock and feed industries, were confirmed just three weeks before tens of thousands of tourists are expected to visit the country as it co-hosts soccer's month-long World Cup finals with Japan.
The ministry said on Friday two sows and several piglets at two farms close to cases already confirmed were being tested after some of the piglets with signs of the disease died.
Last Saturday, pigs at farms about 100 km (60 miles) south of the capital Seoul tested positive for the disease, which can kill cloven-hoofed animals such as pigs and cows but is harmless to humans.
"The pigs at the two farms near the affected area tested positive," a ministry official said by telephone, referring to the latest cases.
The official said livestock within a 500-metre (yard) radius of the two affected farms would be slaughtered.
It was not immediately clear how many animals were involved, but local media said it could be thousands and the radius could be widened considerably.
THOUSANDS CULLED
The ministry was also considering vaccinating animals within 10 km (six miles) of the site, a move that would add to the period before the country could be given a clean bill of health and resume exports.
The outbreak of the disease is a blow to South Korea's livestock and feed industries, which resumed pork exports for the first time since a cattle outbreak of the disease in 2000 halted pork shipments worth $400 million a year, mainly to Japan.
Several countries in the region have banned pork imports from South Korea and some, such as Australia, are poised to increase their exports to South Korea's usual markets, particularly Japan.
Authorities have culled 12,000 animals within a 500-metre radius of the first affected farms. Local media said the total of destroyed animals had risen to 14,000, but officials could not immediately confirm this. No cattle have been affected.
South Korean authorities have been fighting to stop further outbreaks and to ease concerns about food safety ahead of the World Cup, a huge sporting event during which thousands of tourists will criss-cross the country to 10 venue cities.
Agriculture Minister Kim Dong-tae tasted pork in public at a local barbecue restaurant on Thursday to try to reassure people the fatal animal disease is harmless to humans.
"Pork rib sales fell some 5-10 percent in central Korea (after the confirmation of the disease in pigs last Saturday)," a local pork and beef rib supplier in Suwon, the closest World Cup venue to the affected farms, told Reuters by telephone.
The local supplier produces one tonne of pork ribs and 500 kg of beef ribs daily. Of the total output, half of it is sold in central Korea. He said sales of the beef ribs were almost unchanged as not a single cow had the disease.
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