South Korea has removed restrictions imposed on livestock movement in May to curb the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), after no additional cases were found.
There were no additional FMD cases found on the tested farms, after the last identified FMD cases in North Chungcheong province's Cheongju city and Jeungpyeong county in mid-May, according to the country's agricultural ministry (Mafra).
This prompted the country to lift movement restrictions from 15 June, after judging that the risk of additional FMD outbreaks and spread in Cheongju and Jeungpyeong had been significantly reduced. Related measures such as a ban on livestock farm gatherings and the closure of livestock markets were also removed. Mafra has also lowered the warning level to "attention" from previous higher levels of "serious" for the outbreak area and neighbouring regions, and "caution" for other areas.
South Korea had previously issued orders to temporarily suspend movement at livestock farms, as well as movement of vehicles entering and exiting such farms during the early stages of the outbreak, in efforts to prevent the nationwide spread of FMD.
The three consecutive suspensions spanned over 11-15 May and affected hooved mammals such as cattle and pigs. These suspensions led to lower pig slaughter rates and caused pork prices to rise significantly over the period.
Domestic cattle numbers were at 3.59mn head during January-March, the first quarter of this year, down by 3.8pc from 3.73mn head in the previous quarter but up by 0.8pc from 3.56mn head a year earlier, according to national database Korean Statistical Information Service (Kosis). The country has imported 217,350t of fresh, chilled and frozen beef so far this year, according to customs data published on 15 June, and had received 474,511t in 2022.
Domestic pig numbers were at 11.11mn head in January-March, slightly down from 11.12mn head the previous quarter and 11.17mn head the previous year, according to Kosis. South Korea imported a total of 543,058t of fresh, chilled and frozen pork in 2022, and has imported 225,154t of pork so far this year, according to customs data.
