Health officials are confident about containing foot-and-mouth disease before the World Cup. An official at the Agriculture Ministry said its efforts to control the disease are paying off, but they will not let down guard. He said the worst situation may be over even though they'll keep a close watch for a couple of more days. On Wednesday, President Kim Dae-jung expressed concern over the possible impact of the disease ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. The livestock disease was first reported early this month among pigs at farms in Ansung and Jinchon, about one hundred kilometers south of Seoul. Foot-and-mouth disease spreads rapidly among cloven-hoofed animals such as cows and pigs, but is not dangerous to humans. Infected animals first suffer blisters on their hooves and mouths that spread to internal organs, killing the livestock. Health officials have nearly finished slaughtering almost one hundred thousand pigs in the contaminated areas. Hundreds of pigs have died from the disease.