Valuation of the stabilization plan for the foot-and-mouth disease burial sites

Abstract

About 4,500 mass burial sites of carcasses from the 2010/2011 outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth (FMD) disease in Korea show very slow stabilization speed, although more than 3 years have passed. Therefore, a plan is being considered to boost the speed of stabilization or removal. This is a study on the social value of the removal plan for 4,500 mass burial sites from the 2010/2011 outbreak of FMD in Korea. This valuation is based on the survey of 1,000 people living all over Korea. Korean people have a willingness to pay 101.2 billion Korean Won (about US $100 million). This value is a large amount, but it is small compared to the cost of a FMD outbreak. The cost for the Korean government from 5 outbreaks since 2000 ranged from 28.8 billion Won to 3.2 trillion Won. These were the costs only paid by the Korean government. One estimate reported that there would be a total damage of 1.4 trillion Won, if FMD outbreak occurs in Jeju Islands, a small part of Korea. If burial sites have very slow stabilization speed and some hazardous contents, the social damage will exceed the removal cost.