by Theresa Kim Hwa-young

Some 120,000 animals are culled in two days after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in North Gyeongsang Province. In one year, total losses are higher than in the last major outbreak in 2002.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – Foot-and-mouth disease threatens South Korea’s livestock industry. Following an outbreak in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, more than 120,000 animals had to be culled and buried in the past two days.

On Wednesday, the South Korean Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that the total number of buried animals had reached 119,915 animals as of that morning.

This falls short of the record set in 2002 when 160,155 animals were culled and buried in 52 days, but experts say the current epidemic is likely to be far greater, as the total reflects burials over a period of just ten days. When factoring in another 55,000 burials in Pocheon and Ganghwa, the number of animals destroyed this year rises to 175,745, surpassing the single-year record set in 2002 by more than 10,000.

At the same time, more and more farms are having foot-and-mouth outbreaks, 31 so far. Altogether 399 farms have had had to cull some animals.

Meanwhile, tensions are high in North Jeolla Province, where H5N1 high-pathogenic avian influenza was detected in serum from two wild ducks captured at a local river.

• south
• korea
• foot-and-mouth
• disease
• culling
• animals