South Korea confirms another case of lumpy skin disease

South Korea has reported another case of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle, government officials said on Saturday, raising the number of confirmed cases this year to eight.

According to the agriculture ministry, the case broke out on Friday at a livestock farm located in Goseong, about 160 kilometres northeast of Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported.

The new case was reported just one day after similar cases were confirmed at farms in Yangyang, 154 km northeast of Seoul, and Pyeongtaek, 64 km south of the capital.

To prevent further infections, the government has cordoned off the affected farms and implemented quarantine measures, according to the officials.

The agriculture ministry called on provincial governments to stay vigilant against additional cases breaking out across the nation and complete vaccination of cattle by the end of this month.

LSD is a highly infectious disease that causes skin lesions, fever, and loss of appetite, often leading to a fall in milk production and even death.

It affects cattle and buffalo via mosquitoes and other blood-feeding insects.

The country reported its first case of LSD in cattle this year in August.

The case was confirmed at a livestock farm in Anseong, located some 65 kilometres south of Seoul, breeding 80 cows, the Agriculture Ministry said.

It was the first LSD case in South Korea since November last year.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s agricultural ministry recently said it plans to commercialise a genetic diagnostic kit for LSD in 2025.

The genetic kit will help selectively cull infected cattle rather than destroying the entire herd, Yonhap news agency reported.

The technology -- developed jointly with Median Diagnostics -- is capable of delivering results within 8 hours, significantly faster than previous methods, which took a week, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.