South Korea confirms hog foot-and-mouth outbreak

South Korea has confirmed a case of foot-and-mouth disease at a hog farm, the country’s first outbreak in more than three years, the agriculture ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The case comes as Asia’s fourth-largest economy strives to contain a six-month outbreak of bird flu, which has pushed pork prices to multi-year highs due to demand for alternative meat. Testing confirmed a foot-and-mouth case at a hog farm in Uiseong county, more than 250 km (155 miles) southeast of Seoul, said statements from the ministry and the Gyeonsangbuk-do provincial government. The pork imports are already high after South Korea’s worst nationwide outbreak of foot-and-mouth in 2010-2011 led to the culling of a third of the hog population.