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South Korea

South Korea Increases Hog Liquidation To Battle FMD

After the discovery of new foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) cases south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, the authorities have liquidated more than 6,000 hogs in a bid to end the latest outbreak and plan to cull some 14,000 more. South Korea has almost nine million pigs and almost two million cows, and has already liquidated about 154,000 head.

The disease was first discovered a month ago in the same region and the timing of the outbreak has produced fears that fans from countries around the world participating in the World Cup Finals would spread the disease to Japan, the soccer event’s co-host.

In early 2000, South Korea responded to an outbreak in  cattle, which severely damaged its $400 million-a-year pork  export, with a sweeping vaccination campaign and limited culling.