South Korea culls almost 200 cows

South Korean authorities confirmed on Monday a case of foot-and-mouth disease in a farm that affected almost 200 cows which were culled, the media reported.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs reported that about 195 samples at a dairy farm in Boeun in North Chungcheon province tested positive for the disease, Efe news reported.

All the cows have been culled and their remains will be buried while movement of livestock and people around the affected farm has been banned.

Emergency vaccination will also be carried out on about 55,000 livestock, mainly pigs and cattle, in North Chungcheon.

This is the first case detected in South Korea since March 2016 when a pig farm in South Chungcheon province tested positive for the disease.

The confirmation of the foot-and-mouth viral disease, which affects various types of livestock but not humans, comes at a time when South Korea is facing a major bird flu outbreak that has led to the culling of more than 30 million chickens and ducks.

--IANS

ksk/mr