Thousands of cases of foot-and-mouth disease were reported Thursday to have broken out on a livestock breeding farm near the North Korean capital Pyongyang. The South Korean press agency Yonhap quoted the chief veterinarian of the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture Kim Chang Seob as saying the cases were the first of the highly contagious disease in North Korea that were confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The OIE confirmed Wednesday that more than 2000 pigs and cows were affected by the outbreak, which the North Korean authorities reported in the beginning of February, dpa reported. The South Korean ministry said there was no danger of the epidemic spreading into South Korea as the animals were not traded between the two countries. Despite this, people travelling from North Korea are being examined more strictly. Though humans can be infected with the virus, symptoms of the disease tend to be mild. Indications of the contagion among cloven-hoofed animals are fever, lethargy and blistering around nose, mouth and hooves.
