[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea confirmed a fresh outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease Monday at a dairy farm as its livestock community is still reeling under the worst outbreak of avian influenza that has ravaged poultry farms, sending egg prices soaring.
The agriculture ministry said that cows at a farm in Boeun, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Seoul, have tested positive for the highly contagious disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals.
The movement of livestock in and around the farm was banned with 195 cows culled overnight, Kim Kyong-kyu, a ministry official, told reporters, adding thousands of cows in nearby farms would be vaccinated.
"Chances of the disease spreading across the country are low," he said, adding preventive measures such as vaccination have been taken at many cow and pig farms since the previous outbreak was reported on March 29 last year.
The new animal disease comes as South Korea is struggling to contain the outbreak of bird flu that has killed more than 30 million chickens and ducks since the virus was detected first in November.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
