SEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) – South Korea began culling more than 25,000 animals on Sunday in trying to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease affecting a region north-west of the capital Seoul, farm officials said.
The Gangwha county was enlisting 800 officials and soldiers to cull cattle and hogs within a 3-km (1.8-mile) radius of a farm that reported the outbreak last week, with a growing number of reports of suspected cases, a farm ministry official said.
The disease is spread by a highly contagious virus that affects cattle, hogs, sheep and other cloven-hoofed animals.
The latest case follows an outbreak in a northern region in January that led to the halt of pork and beef exports, although the country is a net importer of the meat. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Alex Richardson)