South Korea confirmed today that three pigs at a farm outside the capital Seoul had tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease in final tests.

Six pigs had shown symptoms of the disease and two had died at the farm in Ansong, south of Seoul. The remaining four were tested by the authorities and three were found to have the disease, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The initial test showed the three pigs tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease, fatal to animals with cloven hooves but harmless to humans.

The authorities will cull a total of 6,138 cloven-hoofed animals, mainly pigs and cows, in the affected farm and neighbouring areas. This will bring the total culled to contain the outbreak of the disease since 4 May to 133,770 animals.