The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak, which has hit southeastern livestock farms over the last month, is expected to reach a critical point this week, over whether the disease will spread further or not, animal quarantine authorities said Sunday.
“After the animals were found to be infected on a cattle farm in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province on Dec. 10, no additional cases have been reported so far. If there are no additional cases in the next two or three days we can say that the outbreak is winding down,” the North Gyeongsang Province government said.
It did not completely rule out a further spread of the highly contagious disease.
The total number of FMD cases reached 35 after the first outbreak was reported on Nov. 29 in the southeastern city of Andong, about 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul. More than 142,000 animals from 582 farms have been culled and buried.
FMD is classified as a "List A" disease by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Countries that report the disease are barred from exporting meat from cloven-hoofed animals.
1 | Seoul, Beijing try to mend fences as Russia and N. Korea grow closer |
![[INTERVIEW] Yim Si-wan went extra mile to portray legendary athlete in 'Road to Boston'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/fdd49ca391cf4ce785bd7136efd0bfa2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/bcc387606cf7451c94f51a5978960c9f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
