South Korea is struggling to bring its outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) under control before the soccer World Cup begins in 11 days’ time in the capital, Seoul.
Confirmation of cases at two more farms came on Monday. Won Il-Hyong of the agriculture ministry’s quarantine taskforce said: “We began slaughtering some 7000 more pigs near the two new infected farms.”
On Sunday, a further 2000 pigs were marked for slaughter after outbreaks of the highly contagious disease at two other farms, bringing the animals culled to over 92,000. The latest cases were all in a “quarantine zone” near Anseong, 100 kilometres south of Seoul, where the first outbreak was reported on 2 May.
However, pigs expel vast quantities of the virus compared to other livestock and the virus can be effectively carried by wind. In the last weeks, the virus has apparently jumped 25 km between two infected areas, meaning several World Cup venues are within reach. These include Seoul, where favourites France kick off the tournament, and Suwon, where Brazil are due to play.
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Cross infection
Several hundred thousand fans are expected to travel to Korea and it is feared that they could carry FMD back to their home countries or across to World Cup co-host, Japan, which is free of the virus. Some countries, including England, are playing warm-up matches in Korea before travelling on to Japan.
The UK suffered a catastrophic FMD outbreak in 2001, leading to the slaughter of four million cattle and sheep. UK farmer’s union president Ben Gill said recently: “I would implore those fans who attend the South Korean friendly to stay away from infected areas and avoid livestock. We also urge them not to take a risk in bringing South Korean food back to the UK.”
The Korean government has introduced strict controls on livestock trading and the movements of animals and humans around the areas concerned. More than 2500 quarantine, police and military troops were still on emergency duty, the agriculture ministry said. A FMD outbreak in 2000 spread across the country.
FIFA has told New Scientist that the World Cup will “go ahead as planned”.
