South Korea Thursday confirmed an
additional case of foot-and-mouth disease, despite extensive quarantine efforts
to contain the spread of the highly contagious disease.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries said a pig farm in the eastern province of Gangwon tested
positive for the disease.

All 13,500 animals at the farm in
Hongcheon have been ordered culled to prevent the spread of the disease, the
ministry said. Livestock within a 500-meter radius of the affected farm have
also been ordered slaughtered as a precautionary measure.

An outbreak of the disease first
confirmed in North Gyeongsang Province on Nov. 29 has spread to five other South
Korean cities and provinces. In the face of the worst outbreak of the disease in
the country’s history, the government has ordered the culling of over 549,000
animals and vaccination of 227,000 animals at 8,570 farms across the country.

The government on Wednesday raised
its alert level for the disease to the highest and set up a central disaster and
safety center involving related ministries to curtail the spread of the disease.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet