Must Read: South Korea On High Alert Following Discovery Of Second Strain Foot-and-Mouth Disease!

Seoul's agriculture ministry confirms that a second strain of the foot-and-mouth disease has been discovered just three days after the first outbreak of the disease was announced. This prompted the government of South Korea to raise the country's foot-and-mouth disease alert status to the highest level.

Reuters reports that the agriculture ministry raised the alert level to the maximum after an O-type strain of the foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed in the south-eastern part of South Korea. According to Kim Kyeong-kyu, deputy minister for food industry policy, another strain, this time, an A-type strain of the foot-and-mouth disease, was uncovered at a farm in Yeonchon, about 50 miles from the capital.

According to the Yonhap News Agency, the second strain of the foot-and-mouth disease is belived to have come from North Korea. The A-type strain of the foot-and-mouth disease was the first to be discovered, then three days later the O-type strain of the foot-and-mouth disease was discovered in Boeun, central South Korea.

The Gyeonggi provincial government believes that the foot-and-mouth disease was carried from the North Korea by winds. Another factor, according to the provincial government, was due to the wild animals crossing through the Demilitarized Zone that separates North Korea and South Korea.

In 2010, South Korea had its worst foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. In response to this most recent outbreak, the ministry had re-vaccinated all cattles in South Korea against the O-type virus. According to Kim Kyeong-kyu, South Korea's other livestock would be vaccinated again against the A-type strain of foot-and-mouth disease..

Oh Soon-min, a senior agriculture ministry official, revealed that the ministry aims to import more "O+A" vaccines. The official states that the country's supply of "O+A" vaccines is not sufficient to inoculate all the livestock against both strains of the foot-and-mouth disease.

Since the outbreak was discovered, Korea has responded by raising its alert status to maximum and then launching a nationwide vaccination and movement control order to prevent the disease from spreading. Also, around 830 cattles have been culled since Wednesday.

According to Park Bong-kyun, commissioner of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, said the ministry is debating whether to inoculate the hogs even if the foot-and-mouth disease has only been found in the cattles so far. South Korea butchered 33 million farm birds in the past year in an effort to prevent an outbreak of the bird flu.