SOUTH KOREA REPORTS MORE FMD CASES, TOTAL RISES TO 10

SEOUL, March 18 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- South Korea on Tuesday reported additional foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) cases at local cattle farms, raising the number of cases this year to 10, officials said.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the latest cases were found at farms in the county of Yeongam, about 300 kilometres south of Seoul.

The farms are located near a cattle farm where this year's first FMD case broke out last week, marking the first occurrence in almost two years.

Following the first outbreak, the government has raised the crisis level for Yeongam and several other adjacent regions to "serious," the highest level of its four-tier system, and has begun a nationwide FMD vaccination programme, which was initially planned for next month.

FMD is an acute infectious viral disease that causes illness in cows, pigs, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals. It does not affect humans.

--BERNAMA-YONHAP