It has been reported that an outbreak of foot and mouth disease at a farm in South Korea, has lead to the slaughtering of more than 2,500 cows and pigs.

According to the Agricultural Ministry official Lee Sang-soo, nine cows at a farm in Ganghwa Island, west of Seoul, were confirmed to be suffering from the disease on Saturday.

Lee stated that quarantine workers are killing 384 cows and 2,200 pigs around the outbreak site, as a precautionary measure.

According to reports, more than 5,900 animals have been killed since January in South Korea. This was done when the country reported an outbreak of the disease for the first time in eight years.

It is known that foot-and-mouth disease is likely to prove fatal for cloven-hoofed animals including cows, sheep, pigs and goats. It leads to blisters on the mouth and feet. However, the disease is not known to affect humans.

The foot-and-mouth virus is an infectious animal disease. The World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, located in Paris states that it has especially elevated mortality rates in young animals.