Asia-Pacific

ROK confirms 3 additional FMD outbreaks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-31 16:20

SEOUL, the Republic of Korea- The Republic of Korea(ROK) confirmed three additional cases of foot-and-mouth disease on Friday, despite its extensive quarantine efforts to contain the highly contagious animal disease.

Related readings: S Korea confirms outbreak of H5N1 in two provinces  S Korea raises alert level for FMD to highest

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said two cattle farms in North Gyeongsang Province and one in Gyeonggi Province tested positive for the disease.

All 278 animals at the farms have been ordered culled and buried to prevent the spread of the disease, the ministry said, with livestock within a 500-meter radius of the affected farms to be slaughtered as a precautionary measure.

The outbreak at the farm in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, aggravates worries regarding the disease because the city is the single largest producer of cattle in the country.

The outbreak of the disease first confirmed in North Gyeongsang Province on Nov 29 has spreaded to five other South Korean cities and provinces so far.

In the face of the severest outbreak of the disease in the country's history, the government has ordered the culling of about 580,456 animals and the vaccination of 340,000 at 12,600 farms across the country.