South Korea confirmed two additional foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks at pig production and cattle farms on Sunday, as the highly contagious animal disease continues to spread across the nation. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the pig farm with 2,100 animals, located in Yeoju, 105 kilometers southeast of Seoul, tested positive for the disease. The animals were put under close observation on Saturday after some animals started to develop blisters on their snouts, teats and hooves. All animals on the farm have already been culled to prevent the spread of the disease, the ministry said. In addition, the ministry reported an outbreak at a cattle farm in the same county. The ministry said two of the 140 cattle on the farm tested positive for the disease. After the first case was confirmed on Nov. 29 in North Gyeongsang Province, the disease spread to Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces, and Incheon, with a total of 51 cases being reported and over 325,000 animals ordered to be destroyed. FMD is highly contagious and affects all cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, pigs, deer, goats and buffalo, although it is harmless to humans. The country was hit by the disease in 2000, 2002 and two more times earlier in the year, Yonhap reported.
