Friday, December 24, 2010

S. Korea reports additional FMD outbreak at pig production farm

SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea confirmed a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak at a large pig production farm in North Gyeongsang Province on Friday, as the highly contagious animal disease continued to spread around the nation.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the farm with 24,000 animals, located in Yeongcheon, 344 kilometers southeast of Seoul, tested positive for the disease.

The pigs raised at the production facility are sold to other farms with authorities acknowledging that animals carrying the FMD virus may have been inadvertently sold before a quarantine ring was set up.

The animals were put under close observation only Thursday after some animals started to develop blisters on their snouts, teats and hooves and showed a loss of appetite.

"There is a chance that animals infected with FMD may have been transferred to other farms," an official, who declined to be identified, said. All animals on the farm and those within a three-kilometer radius are to be culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

Reflecting concern that the disease may continue to spread, a pig farm in adjacent Gyeongju has been quarantined after some animals started showing possible signs of the disease.

An outbreak in Gyeongju could become a serious problem since it is the single largest producer of cattle in the country...

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