Animals that have died or were euthanized because of foot and mouth disease or Avian Influenza (AI) can now be used in the manufacturing of fertilizer and feed. (Image : Yonhap)
SEJONG, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Animals that have died or were euthanized because of foot and mouth disease or Avian Influenza (AI) can now be used in the manufacturing of fertilizer and feed.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that it has renewed its notifications on the list of diseases for which dead animals can be reused.
Until now, only the dead bodies of animals that had succumbed to brucellosis, Aujeszkys disease, tuberculosis, swine erysipelas and atrophic rhinitis of swine were permitted to be reused.
Chicken coop during the outbreak of AI. (Image : Yonhap)
However, the number of diseases for which animal carcasses can be reused was increased to 44, including foot and mouth disease and AI. The animals can be used after going through procedures including heat treatment, in which the dead animal is treated with high temperatures and pressure, destroying the virus or germs that killed it, and removing them with oil so that the dead animal could be reused to make fertilizer or feed.
When animal carcasses are reused, the costs are cut by 50 percent at the most compared to the expenses incurred in a typical burial.
Checking the condition of cattle during the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. (Image : Yonhap)
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs also explains that if farms that don’t have burial spaces for dead animals treat them with heat and pressure when AI or foot and mouth diseases break out, the risk of the disease spreading can be reduced.
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
