An additional outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed in South Korea, rekindling concerns that the livestock disease may further spread widely, the government said Friday.
Pigs at a swine farm in Nonsan in the central region of South Chungcheong Province tested positive for the highly contagious disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The quarantine authorities have culled some 400 affected animals, and placed a travel ban on animals and vehicles, the ministry added.
The latest outbreak came just three days after an infection was confirmed at a nearby farm in Nonsan on Tuesday.
The animal disease has been spreading in South Chungcheong Province as two outbreaks of FMD were also confirmed in the neighboring towns of Gongju and Cheonan last month.
FMD is a "List A" disease as designated by the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health. Countries that report the disease are barred from exporting meat from all cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. (Yonhap)