As many Jeju Weekly readers probably know, the past few months have been tragic for many livestock and people in Korea.

What was first characterized as a “trivial matter that can be solved swiftly” became an uproar in November of 2010 and is still a major concern to many in this country; foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). It is not a zoonosis — that is, an infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals, both wild and domestic, to humans or vice versa. It should be demarcated from a disease with a similar name — hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), which mainly affects humans, is less severe with minimal casualties, and is manageable symptomatically.

There have been sporadic reports of human infection of FMD in the past, and in some very rare cases they led to death, but it is probable that these were misdiagnoses.

The causative agent of the disease is a virus — picornavirus to be exact (‘pico’ meaning small, meaning that it is a ‘small-rna-virus'). Due to the various types (seven) and up to 60 subtypes of the virus, a full vaccination is impossible, and an immunity for one strand does not protect the animal against the other types of the virus.

The disease is deadly and almost plague like to the livestock, initially leading to spiking feverish conditions followed by painful blisters to the mouth and the hooves that result in ruptures of the blisters that scar the animals in many ways. It is very much contagious and is not only airborne, but also spread by objects, vehicles, people and other direct and indirect contact (soles of shoes, clothes, tractors, car tires, and the like.)

In order to put a halt to the spread of the disease, livestock are often slaughtered by the millions — like the case we are witnessing these days here in Korea. The slaughter is not due to the mortality rate of the livestock — for it is negligible, under 5 percent. The disease, once caught, can affect the production of milk and the general well-being of the cows, leading to a great decrease in productivity (of milk and meat).

From an economical standpoint, livestock from an FMD epidemic area — even if not infected, is banned from import to many countries. This leads to greater losses. A simple vaccination of livestock also leads to a less-favorable position in the market. So some people might argue that in order for a greater productivity and a less economical loss, the livestock should be slaughtered even though there is a chance to heal them.

The ethics of slaughtering cattle is debatable, but what we all can agree on is preventing the disease from spreading. Our Jeju Island was declared a region clear of FMD, and everyone should try to keep it that way. As we are not farmers of cattle or pigs (at least most of us), we cannot prevent the disease process directly. But we should participate in ways of preventing the disease by supporting the quarantine process. Quarantine is done not only to the exterior of the vehicles, but to the individuals in the vehicles.

Dr. Jay