www.asianfarmers.org

Korea was internationally recognized as a “controlled risk” country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease by the world organization for animal health (OIE). Korea is now in the same level as 33 other countries in the world such as Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on Thursday Korea and Panama were given “controlled risk” status in the general session of the OIE in Paris on Tuesday.

The Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases at the OIE had made the decision in February based on documents submitted by the Korean government. Some 175 OIE member countries unanimously approved it in the general session. Before, Korea was in the group of “undetermined” countries because the disease control system was not up to the international standards.

Read the full story at The Chosun Ilbo

Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Saturday vowed to do the utmost to curb the further spread of foot- and-mouth disease that has ravaged livestock in Miyazaki Prefecture, according to local media reports from Japan’s southwestern region.

Kan told local farmers that the government is taking this problem very seriously and will supply resources as well as financial aid to held rehabilitate the region’s battered local livestock trade and make every effort to prevent the further spread of the disease.

“We will take steps to reconstruct their farms in a responsible manner,” local reports quoted the premier as saying.

Read the full story at People’s Daily Online

Sample tissue from ducks in Takeo province that died in an outbreak of a disease officials could not identify earlier this week have tested positive for the H5N1 virus, commonly known as bird flu, officials at the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Tuesday.

In light of the test result, officials said they will move ahead with Monday’s order from the provincial agriculture department to destroy all live ducks and halt duck meat sales in the affected area. Since the outbreak began last month, 16,442 ducks have died and at least 31,000 live ducks are exhibiting symptoms of the virus.

Ly Sovann, deputy director of the Communicable Diseases Control Department at the Ministry of Health, confirmed the positive test result on Tuesday and related the contents of an unreleased statement from the Agriculture Ministry.

“The statement identified the bird flu-affected area as Pralay village, Romenh commune, Koh Andeth district. All ducks within 5 kilometres of the village will be incinerated, sales of duck meat will be stopped and local officials within 10 kilometres of the area must monitor both ducks and humans for signs of infection,” Ly Sovann said.

Read the full story at The Phnom Penh Post

VietNamNet Bridge – Lacking obvious solutions, the northern region may have a poor winter-spring crop, observed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat at an extended cabinet meeting last week.

Phat said that the Mekong River Delta, the largest rice basket in Vietnam, will have a good harvest, but the Red River Delta is facing difficulties like epidemic diseases, a warm winter and drought.

The Minister said that a disease on rice has spread to 18 northern provinces, from the central province of Quang Nam northward.

Read the full story at Viet Nam Bridge

International Center for Tropical Agriculture CIAT scientists and their partners in Southeast Asia have issued urgent preliminary guidelines to tackle deadly pest and disease outbreaks that have crippled cassava production in parts of the region.

The move follows a CIAT investigation into reports from Thailand’s eastern and northeastern regions, of damaged and stunted cassava plants with low root yields.

Cassava is an essential pro-poor crop in the region, where it is grown by around 5 million smallholders, mainly to supply the starch processing and animal feed industries. In Thailand alone, the industry is worth US$1.5 billion, and the country accounts for three-quarters of the world’s cassava exports.

Read the full story at Matangi Tonga

Government authorities confirmed Thursday the second outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on a cattle farm close to where the first outbreak in eight years erupted a week ago. The farm in Pocheon, 45 kilometers north of Seoul, is only about 3.5 kilometers away from where the first outbreak was reported, stirring up concerns that the virus may spread.

FMD is rarely transmitted to humans, but it can be fatal for cloven-hoofed animals, including cows, pigs, goats and sheep.

Local quarantine officials confirmed the latest case after testing 15 Korean native “hanwoo” cows that were culled and buried early Wednesday. They showed signs of FMD symptoms, but only two of them tested positive, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Read the full story at The Korea Times