South Korea raised the country’s foot-and-mouth disease alert status to the highest level as a second strain of the disease was confirmed three days after a first outbreak was reported, Seoul’s agriculture ministry said on Thursday.
SEOUL: South Korea raised the country’s foot-and-mouth disease alert status to the highest level as a second strain of the disease was confirmed three days after a first outbreak was reported, Seoul’s agriculture ministry said on Thursday.
The A-type strain of the disease was discovered at a dairy farm in Yeoncheon, less than 50 miles north of the capital, said Kim Kyeong-kyu, deputy minister for food industry policy. Reacting shortly after an outbreak of the O-type strain was confirmed in southeast Korea, the ministry raised the alert status one notch to the maximum.
«We are raising the alert level as foot-and-mouth cases occurred at different parts of the country and a second type of the disease emerged,» Kim said at a briefing. As of Wednesday, 826 cattle had been culled, the ministry said.
South Korea last raised the country’s foot-and-mouth disease alert status to the highest level in 2010, when the country grappled with its worst-ever outbreak.
