FMD in Korea - Not So Hot For Tourists But Worse For Locals

FMD ( Foot and Mouth Disease is also known as Hoof-and-Mouth Disease) does not usually affect humans. It doesn’t mean that if you come into contact with a cow which has FMD, you will get infected. The odds are HIGHLY unlikely. Moreover, Wikipedia states that the virus “ that causes FMD is sensitive to stomach acid” so “ it cannot spread to humans via consumption of infected meat, except in the mouth before the meat is swallowed.” BTW, FMD is not to be confused with HFMD “hand, foot and mouth disease” which is usually caused by the Coxsackie A virus.

The reason government officials have been discouraging visits to farms and travel around the country is that the FMD virus can be carried and spread easily by humans and animals when equipment, cars or clothes are exposed to it. That’s why:

• The Lee MB administration tried to discouraged people in the ROK from making their annual return visits to their hometown s during Seollal celebrations earlier this year

• Tourists can expect many closures of zoos and cancellations of festivals especially those in the rural areas

• Lovers of bulgogi or samgyeopsal -gui can expect to fork out more won for these favourite meat dishes as wholesale prices have risen and imports from the US or Australia have increased. Those who cannot do without their daily glass of milk may also suffer escalating prices.

• Government workers especially veterinarians and health officials in the agricultural sector have been forced to cancel their leave and have had very little rest as they are on the front-line fighting the spread of the disease. If there have been human deaths related to FMD in Korea, the cause may well be indirect as they’ve been exhausted, working round-the-clock to contain the virus.

Just a word of caution – be careful what you drink. According to one article in The Korea Times some “groundwater sources near animal burial sites have been classified ‘undrinkable’ due to concentrations of colon bacillus – a bacteria group that includes E.coli – that exceed the legal minimum.” When health officials ran out of the lethal injections to kill the cows and pigs in a humane way, it led to the desperate mass burial of live animals. The hasty culling of the animal livestock may have inadvertently compromised groundwater sources as the tarpaulin used to line the burial pits may have been torn by the struggling animals.

Sources:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2042942,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/18/south-korea-foot-and-mouth
http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/world/foot-and-mouth-disease%E2%80%94will-mass-animal-burials-cause-water-contamination-in-south-korea/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand,_foot_and_mouth_disease
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot-and-mouth_disease
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/459153.html
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/457708.html