South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak said Monday that his administration will actively consider local
production of vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which has ravaged the
country’s livestock industry since its first outbreak on Nov. 29 last year.

During his biweekly radio address,
Lee said vaccination is the best policy against the spread of FMD. “The United
Kingdom and the Netherlands are currently the only countries that produce
internationally approved vaccines. But South Korea will actively look into
measures of locally producing vaccines,” Lee said. “We will be able to prevent
recurrence of this kind of serious damage by carrying out vaccination,” Lee
added.

South Korea has forced to cull more
than 2 million livestock, mostly cattle and pigs, in its worst outbreak of the
highly contagious animal disease in the history. “The number of FMD-positive
cases has greatly declined following the initiation of vaccination. By the end
of this month, the first round of vaccination of cattle and pigs will be
completed,” Lee said. “It is thus expected that the outbreak will be somewhat
eased in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year holiday.”

He also pointed out that South Korea
has become more vulnerable to the disease as more than 20 million people travel
in and out of the country each year. More than 8 million people travel between
South Korea and Asian nations where FMD constantly occurs.

Lee called on the public to
cooperate with quarantine efforts during the Lunar New Year holiday and conveyed
gratitude and support for those who will engage in quarantine work during the
holidays.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet