Posted February. 16, 2011 11:03,
New cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed Tuesday in the countrys fifth-largest city of Daejeon despite vaccinations in the region, stoking fears over a recurrence of a disease whose spread had thought to have been halted.
The Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said a close inspection confirmed additional cases of the disease at a pig farm in the citys Dong district. Before the latest outbreak, a pig farm in Busans Saha district had been the last to be affected by the disease Monday last week.
Pigs in the affected farm in Daejeon were vaccinated on Jan. 30 and Feb. 5. On the outbreak of the disease despite the vaccination, the ministry said, Vaccination doesnt guarantee complete immunization against the disease, adding, Given that suspicious symptoms were found several days ago, we judged that the virus came from affected areas nearby such as those in South Chungcheong Province. Epidemiological studies are underway.
Since Friday, more than 100 pigs have died in the farm in Daejeon. Quarantine authorities will cull more than 2,100 pigs at the farm to prevent the disease from spreading.
Including Daejeon, the disease has hit 10 metropolitan cities and provinces and 70 lower-level administrative areas nationwide, sparing just Seoul, Ulsan, Gwangju, the two Jeolla provinces and Jeju Island.
The number of animals culled has reached 3,333,496.