MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FMD outbreak in South Korea under control, but Seoul now faces bird flu

South Korea destroyed almost 3.5 million pigs, cattle, goats and deer

South Korea is moving to stem future cases of bird flu as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks have been largely put under control, the government.

The Agriculture ministry said it currently maintains poultry movement restrictions in 14 rural cities and counties across the country after quarantine authorities have had to cull 6.27 million birds on 269 farms since Dec. 29, when the first case of bird flu was reported.

The ministry said such restrictions are needed because there has been a steady confirmation of bird flu outbreaks, with the last case taking place 344 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

“Most of the outbreaks are taking place where there are large numbers of migratory birds nearby that spend the winter months in South Korea,” a ministry official said.

Frontline quarantine officials have ordered poultry farmers to take all possible precautions to keep their chickens and ducks from coming into contact with wild birds that could spread the bird flu virus, he said.

The ministry, meanwhile, said FMD outbreaks seem to have come under control, with the last case being reported on Feb. 25.

It said movement restrictions on livestock have been lifted nationwide with the exception of two counties in North Chungcheong Province.

It added that no livestock have been culled since mid March because no new cases have been reported following nationwide vaccinations that began on Dec. 25.

Since Nov. 29, when the first FMD case was confirmed, the government has destroyed just a total of 3.48 million pigs, cattle, goats and deer at a cost of over 2.7 billion USD.

The latest set of outbreaks is the severest in the country's history, far exceeding losses caused when the highly contagious animal disease hit the country in 2000, 2002 and two times in early 2010.

Last week, Seoul lowered its FMD alert level one notch from “red” to “orange” with the central emergency response headquarters under the Ministry of Public Administration and Security to be disbanded in the near future.