SEOUL: South Korean authorities have recently found a cattle which is having infected to ‘foot-and-mouth’ disease. The authorities reported that it was the first time in more than three years that this disease has spread its wings to a farm, which has became a serious matter of anxiety for the authorities now.
The outbreak was discovered around half a year ago on hog farms, intensifying fears about food safety in a nation already grappling with bird flu.
The agriculture ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the disease had been detected at a cattle farm in the city of Anseong, nearly 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Seoul.
More than 26,000 hogs, or 0.3 percent of the country’s total hog population, have been slaughtered as defense against foot-and-mouth, according to ministry data.
Al the cases have involved a type of the disease that animals are inoculated against in South Korea, the ministry said.
Worries over livestock disease have helped boost meat imports.
South Korea’s pork imports, mainly from the United States and Germany, rose 21 percent to 328,241 tonnes in the first 11 months of last year from the same period the year before, customs data showed.
The country’s beef imports, mainly from Australia and the United States, also rose 6 percent to over 260,000 tonnes between January and November last year from a year earlier, the data showed.
