Quarantine officials in protective suits enter a beef cattle farm in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, central South Korea, on Thursday to cull cattle after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed there and at two other beef cattle farms in the region. They were the first confirmed FMD cases in the country in more than four years. (Yonhap)

CHEONGJU -- More than 250 cow farms in a local city where the first cases of foot-and-mouth disease had broken out in South Korea are subject to government-led quarantine inspections to prevent the further spread of the contagious animal disease, a government official said Monday.

Last week, South Korea reported FMD infections at two beef cattle farms both located in the central city of Cheongju, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, for the first time in four years. The country last reported FDM cases in January 2019.

Since then, three more confirmed cases were reported at farms in Cheongju.

"The five farms have 14 cars and they have visited 251 farms in Cheongju over the past 21 days," said Lee Jae-bok from the city's municipal government.

Health authorities have been inspecting those vehicles and scrutinizing the livestock farms that the cars have visited.

At the same time, the municipal government has limited the movement of livestock across the region and set up disinfection booths and control points to stave off the further spread of the disease since the first outbreak.

FMD is an acute infectious viral disease of livestock causing fever followed by the development of vesicles chiefly in the mouth and on the feet. It is one of the most infectious diseases for livestock and can spread rapidly if uncontrolled.

It affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, buffalo, camels, sheep, goats, deer and pigs, and is prevalent in spring time. (Yonhap)