Around 33-thousand pigs have been culled in South Korea so far this year due to foot-and-mouth disease(FMD).

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday that the viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals was found at a total of 21 farms across the country, since the first confirmed case in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, on January eleventh.

The ministry also announced preventive measures to reduce the spread of the infectious animal disease, including strengthening sanitation inspections at slaughterhouses used by around 80 farms in South Chungcheong, where the animal virus appeared to have briefly appeared.

The ministry has also decided to conduct an FMD inspection on pigs bred at farms prone to the disease before their shipment. It said it will also conduct an intensive FMD inspection at those farms twice a year.