The Korea Times

Gov’t to maintain vigilance against FMD

- (Yonhap)

Korea will continue to maintain its heightened quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), following the outbreak of a first case this year, the agricultur­e ministry said Monday.

The Ministry of Agricultur­e, Food and Rural Affairs has limited movement of cloven-hoofed animals since the outbreak of the FMD case at a hog farm in Gimpo, west of Seoul, last Tuesday. It culled over 900 pigs at the affected farm as a preventive measure.

The ministry said it will continue to limit the movement of livestock across the nation until April 9, considerin­g the two week incubation period and the time needed to make antibodies become active after vaccinatin­g animals.

Quarantine officials have been vaccinatin­g animals and conducting inspection­s on livestock but haven’t detected additional FMD cases, the ministry said. It was the first time the highly infectious animal disease has been detected at a pig farm since the last case in South Chungcheon­g Province two years ago.

FMD is an acute infectious viral disease of livestock causing fever followed by the developmen­t of vesicles chiefly in the mouth and on the feet. It is one of the most infectious diseases for livestock and can spread rapidly if uncontroll­ed.

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