Foot-Mouth Disease Hits More Farms

Foot-and-mouth disease was spreading farther from western to central South Korea despite government efforts to contain the deadly epidemic, quarantine officials said. “We are doing everything we can do, but the disease seems to be spreading. We are very concerned about it,” said Jin Young Hwa, a spokesman for the National Veterinary Quarantine and Research Service. Jin said six more cattle at a farm in Chungju, about 60 miles southeast of the capital, Seoul, were found to have the disease. The latest discovery brought the number of infected areas to 12 farms in three provinces since the symptoms of the disease were first reported in Paju, 30 miles north of Seoul, in late March. South Korea has slaughtered about 900 cattle and pigs and inoculated 200,000 others.