South Korea said on Tuesday it had culled about 15 percent of its cattle population to contain outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, while it slaughtered three percent of its poultry population against bird flu. Asia's No.4 economy confirmed 120 cases of foot-and-mouth by Tuesday, up from last Friday's 116 cases, and 26 cases of H5N1 avian influenza, up from 23 cases on Friday, in statements from the agriculture ministry quoted by Reuters. The ministry said 2.1 million animals and 3.6 million poultry, mostly chicken, had been culled to be buried. "The government set a policy to minimize slaughter against foot-and-mouth, while utilizing vaccination to prevent the disease," a statement from the presidential office on Sunday quoted president Lee Myung-bak, who visited disinfection sites, as saying.
