South Korea reported an additional case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) at a pig farm in the country's central province on Wednesday, indicating a possible spreading of the animal disease that had previously been limited to an adjacent region.
   
The latest case was confirmed at a pig farm in Cheonan, some 80 kilometers south of Seoul, of South Chungcheong Province, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
  
The case marked the first of its kind confirmed outside of Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, where an outbreak of the animal disease was first confirmed on Dec. 4.  Six other FMD cases have since been confirmed in Jincheon, 90 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
   
FMD is a viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cows and sheeps.
   
The ministry said only a few pigs in one of 12 pigpens at the Cheonan farm were showing symptoms of FMD, but that all 104 pigs from the pigpen would be slaughtered as a precaution.
   
Government regulations on FMD require only the infected animals or those showing symptoms of the disease to be culled.
   
The ministry has said the animal disease is not known to affect humans and that the virus is easily destroyed when exposed to a moderate heat of over 50 degrees Celsius. (Yonhap)