N. Korea notifies U.N. agency of foot-and-mouth outbreak: report

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SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea reported to a U.N. food agency that foot-and-mouth disease -- rampantly spreading in South Korea -- has broken out on its soil as well, a U.S. broadcaster said Thursday.

Radio Free Asia (RFA), quoting an unidentified United Nations official, said that the communist country notified the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of an outbreak in a letter on Wednesday but did not provide details.

An email to the Rome-based U.N. agency seeking confirmation was not immediately returned while its South Korean office said it had no details. An official at South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles affairs involving North Korea, said on condition of anonymity that the report "appears true considering intelligence that foot-and-mouth disease has recently hit the North."

RFA said in its report from Washington that the FAO will send experts to North Korea "at an appropriate time" to help the communist country contain the highly contagious disease.

South Korea has been battling the disease that has spread nationwide in the last three months and caused over 3 million livestock to be culled. It remains unclear whether foot-and-mouth disease, if confirmed in the North, has spread from the South.

In 2007, North Korea suffered outbreaks of the disease, prompting South Korea to dispatch a team of animal health experts amid a mood of reconciliation.

Citing recent visitors to the impoverished neighbor, South Korean officials said last month that the North is believed to be stepping up its quarantine efforts after outbreaks were reported.

South and North Korea are divided by one of the world's most heavily fortified borders. Most cross-border exchanges have come to a halt over the last three years.

Foot-and-mouth disease is highly contagious and affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, pigs, deer, goats and sheep. The disease causes blisters on the mouth and feet of livestock and leads to death. It is rarely transmitted to humans.

North Korea has banned the inflow of pork and beef from South Korea since late last year for fear that the disease may spread there.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/nort...03800315F.HTML

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Re: N. Korea notifies U.N. agency of foot-and-mouth outbreak: report

N. Korea's FMD outbreak spreads across country: report
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has spread across many parts of the country after the first case was confirmed in the capital city on Dec. 25, a U.S. broadcaster said Sunday.

Radio Free Asia (RFA), quoting a report by the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, said the communist country confirmed that since the first case hit a small cattle farm in Pyongyang, the highly contagious animal disease has spread to at least five provinces.

While there are no reports of animals being culled and buried to control further spreading of the disease, North Korea said 11,165 animals have been infected so far. Of these, 8,640 pigs have died along with 15 cattle, it said.

RFA also said that quarantine authorities had moved to vaccinate animals, but the locally produced drugs used had little effect in slowing down the disease. It added that emergency quarantine measures have been ordered to combat the spread of the animal disease that can be transmitted through the air.

FMD affects all cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, deer, goats and buffalo and is classified as a "List A" disease by the OIE.

Pyongyang first reported outbreaks to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization earlier in the week.

Related to the outbreaks in the North, Seoul said that it has tightened decontamination and inspections on cars and personnel coming over the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries. Belongings of people are being checked more thoroughly and decontaminated since they can carry the animal virus.

South Korean quarantine officials said the two transit offices along the eastern and western coasts have upgraded decontamination levels as of Friday, although no FMD outbreaks have been reported at the Kaesong industrial park and the Mount Kumgang resort.

Both the health ministry and the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service have checked procedures to make certain that tighter measures are followed, sources said.

The North Korean outbreaks, meanwhile, come as South Korea is trying to contain the severest FMD onslaught in its history. Seoul has ordered the culling of 3.30 million livestock, including 150,000 heads of cattle and 3.15 million pigs, since Nov. 29 when the first case was confirmed.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/nati...02600320F.HTML