ULikeKorea, a livestock health care company, said Friday it has successfully detected early-stage bovine coronavirus in South Korea and Japan.

Coronavirus is prevalent in animals, and few are lethal to humans and cause respiratory infections like the COVID-19, Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Coronaviruses are ribonucleic acid virus that are prone to mutation, and have the possibility of animal-to-human and human-to-animal infections, uLikeKorea CEO Kim Hee-jin said.

The heightening attention to the cases of coronavirus infections in animals have prompted the company to release the body temperature irregularities it has detected in cows using LiveCare bio capsules, Kim said.

LiveCare bio capsules are sugarcane capsules containing real-time temperature monitors that connect to uLikeKorea’s artificial intelligence analysis software. These capsules are lodged to the first stomach of cows’ four stomachs by swallowing and stay there to help farmers constantly check any abnormalities in their livestock’s bodily condition.

Cows in Korea’s Hanoo farm in South Chungcheong Province and Japan’s Wagyu farm in Nagoya were found to have shown a sudden rise in temperature, decreased amount of hydration and abnormal bowel symptoms through LiveCare capsules, which resulted in early-stage detection of bovine coronavirus and successful antibiotic treatment.

ULikeKorea emphasized healthy livestock equals healthy food on people’s table, and how its round-the-clock monitoring system helps guarantee the sound circle of life.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)