S. Korea reports additional foot-and-mouth disease case, total at 11

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Friday confirmed an additional foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) case at a local farm, raising the number of cases to 11 this year, the agriculture ministry said.

The latest case was found at a beef cattle farm in Cheongju, a city located some 112 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Of the total 11 cases, nine were confirmed from farms in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, with the remainder being reported from the county of Jeungpyeong in the same province.

Authorities sent officials to the farm for quarantine and disinfection work to prevent the spread of the disease, and all the cattle being raised there will be culled, the ministry said.

In the wake of a series of infections, the government raised the crisis level for Cheongju, Jeungpyeong and seven other adjacent regions, including Daejeon, Sejong and Cheonan, by two notches from "caution" to "serious," the highest level of its four-tier system, to implement beefed-up measures.

South Korea confirmed the first FMD case in more than four years earlier this month.

As a severe and highly transmissible viral disease, FMD causes illness in cows, pigs, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals. It does not affect humans.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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