Livestock sales restrictions eased

Restrictions on livestock transactions in some areas affected by the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease have been eased, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced yesterday.

The ministry said that it will permit 177 farms with a total of 28,000 cattle and pigs to again sell their livestock and conduct other transactions.

“After thorough check-ups on the farms by experts from the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, we were able to lift the restrictions on livestock movements,” said Lee Sang-soo, head of the ministry’s animal health division.

On Jan. 7, officials confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth at a farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi. The latest outbreak was reported at the end of January. Of the six confirmed cases, five were in an area around Pocheon. Dairy cows that tested positive along with livestock within a 500-meter radius of the outbreak were slaughtered as a preventive measure.

Foot-and-mouth disease does not affect humans, but it spreads rapidly among all cloven-hoofed animals. The ministry said if there are no further outbreaks, it plans to lift the restriction on livestock movement for other farms as well.

By Cho Jae-eun [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]