S. Korea reports 2nd foot-and-mouth disease case

South Korea on Friday reported its second confirmed case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) of the season at a local farm, some three weeks after the first case was confirmed in Incheon, just west of Seoul, authorities said. The latest case was reported at a beef cattle farm in the city of Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, according to the government’s central headquarters for FMD response. FMD is an acute infectious viral disease that causes illness in cows, pigs, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals. It does not affect humans. The government has sent quarantine and epidemiologic experts to the affected farm to help stop the spread of the disease, while 133 cows on the ranch will be culled in line with relevant procedures. It has also issued a 24-hour standstill order on workers and vehicles with access to farms and other livestock-related facilities in areas adjacent to Goyang, including Seoul. Additionally, emergency vaccinations and clinical tests will be conducted on some 200,000 animals at 1,092 farms in the cities of Goyang, Paju, Yangju and Seoul, according to the government.

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