S. Korea Reports First Foot-and-Mouth Case for 3 Years
South Korea on Thursday confirmed its first case of foot-and-mouth in more than three years, and just two months after the country was declared free of the disease.
The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that the case had been confirmed in a pig farm in Uiseong in the eastern province of North Gyeongsang.
"A close examination confirmed an outbreak of FMD at the Uiseong farm," the statement said.
South Korea had just regained its status as an FMD-free country in May at a meeting of the World Organisation for Animal Health in Paris.
The entire Korean peninsula suffered a devastating outbreak in 2011 that resulted in the culling of nearly 3.5 million cattle, pigs and other animals in South Korea alone.
The Seoul government estimated the cost of that outbreak at $2.6 billion.
Foot-and-mouth disease affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, deer, goats and sheep.
North Korea suffered an outbreak in February this year, triggering a rare offer of vaccine and medical equipment from the South.
Source: Agence France Presse
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