S. Korea steps up fight against foot-and-mouth disease

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - Acting South Korean leader Hwang Kyo-ahn demanded Thursday that all cows be vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) within this week amid the recent outbreak in the country.

"I call for all-out efforts with a sense of urgency since initial quarantine efforts are critical to stem the spread of the disease," Hwang was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency during a Cabinet meeting.

He also called for officials to promote local agricultural products with farmers already reeling from the culling of more than 30 million poultry in recent months due to the country's worst outbreak of bird flu.

The government on Wednesday allocated a 5.34 billion won ($4.66 million) budget for the task of ensuring over 3 million cows nationwide are inoculated.

However, preventing the further spread of FMD is no simple matter – not only because of the scale of the operation but also because there are two strains to deal with, including the A-type virus that has not been found in South Korea since 2010.

The more familiar O-type strain was confirmed for the first time in nearly a year in separate central and southwestern provinces at the start of this week – the A-type virus then emerged closer to Seoul and the border with North Korea.

With insufficient A-type vaccination stocks, the government now faces a nervous wait for further supplies and to see whether its ongoing inoculation program will be effective.

The situation is particularly tense in light of previous FMD outbreaks, such as when 3.5 million livestock were slaughtered in 2010-2011 at an economic cost of around 3 trillion won ($2.62 billion).