New FMD case confirmed at Hanwoo farm in Yecheon-gun, North Gyeongsang Province

Another case of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed at a Hanwoo cattle farm in Yecheon-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, prompting provincial authorities to step up containment measures.

According to North Gyeongsang Province and Yecheon-gun, a surveillance inspection of a local Hanwoo farm on Thursday found eight cattle testing antigen-positive for FMD.

The farm, which raises 47 head of Hanwoo cattle, is located 2.8 kilometers from a farm where FMD was first detected on Sept. 2.

The eight cattle that tested positive showed no clinical symptoms and recorded high antibody-positive rates in follow-up precision tests.

Following expert consultations at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, authorities decided to defer culling of the animals on the condition that each be isolated in individual stalls, subjected to regular precision testing and disinfected daily, while a field trial is conducted.

If the field trial confirms no risk of transmission, the cattle will be sent to slaughter. If additional antigen detection or rising infection antibody levels indicate a risk, however, the trial will be halted and the animals culled.

North Gyeongsang Province will verify vaccination status at all cloven-hoofed livestock farms across Yecheon-gun and conduct clinical inspections at 148 farms within the containment zone as well as farms with epidemiological links to the outbreak.

In addition, authorities will run a nationwide intensive disinfection week for cloven-hoofed livestock farms from Friday through Nov. 19, deploying 55 wide-area sprayers and disinfection vehicles to sanitize farms, livestock facilities and surrounding roads.

This year's nationwide FMD outbreaks total 16 cases — 10 in Yecheon, four in Incheon's Ganghwa and two in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

"We will do our utmost to prevent the spread of FMD through thorough disease management," North Gyeongsang Province Agriculture and Livestock Director Park Chan-guk said. "We urge livestock farmers to strictly follow basic biosecurity rules, including vaccination, controlling farm access and disinfection."