251 cow farms under quarantine against FMD

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs officials assess the current status of foot-and-mouth disease cases at a situation room in Sejong government complex on Monday. [YONHAP]

More than 250 cow farms in the city where the first cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) had broken out in Korea are subject to government-led quarantine inspections to prevent the further spread of the contagious animal disease, a government official said Monday.

Last week, Korea reported FMD infections at two cattle farms, both located in the central city of Cheongju, North Chungcheong, for the first time in four years. The country last reported FDM cases in January 2019.

Since then, three more confirmed cases have been reported at farms in Cheongju.

"The five farms have 14 cars, and they have visited 251 farms in Cheongju over the past 21 days," Lee Jae-bok from the city's municipal government said.

Health authorities have been inspecting those vehicles and scrutinizing the livestock farms that the cars have visited.

At the same time, the municipal government has limited the movement of livestock across the region and set up disinfection booths and control points to stave off the further spread of the disease since the first outbreak.

Meanwhile, Korea confirmed an additional FMD case at a farm in Cheongju, raising the number of cases to seven, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Out of the total, six were in Cheongju, and the other one was in the nearby county of Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong.

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 contagious diseases for livestock and can spread rapidly if uncontrolled.

It affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, buffalo, camels, sheep, goats, deer and pigs, and is prevalent in spring.

Yonhap