South Korea has begun killing over 60,000 pigs after 20 were confirmed to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease.
More than 40,000 livestock have been killed at farms in two districts, 60 miles south of Seoul, where outbreaks of the epidemic were first reported.
The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said it had ordered a prompt slaughter of all pigs at farms within 1.8 miles of where the initial cases were found.
The news came ahead of the World Cup, being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan and starting on May 31st
. Japan is concerned about the possible spread of the disease when tourists visit the two countries during the tournament. But South Korea has called the concerns "groundless" because the contaminated area is far from World Cup venues. The nearest World Cup cities are Suwon, 24 miles to the north of the affected region, and Daejeon, 50 miles to the south.