SEOUL, South Korea  - South Korea said Wednesday that foot-and-mouth disease has spread to seven western areas, two weeks after the deadly epidemic first hit a major cattle-raising area north of Seoul.

Authorities have slaughtered 400 cattle and pigs, inoculated 110,000 others and imposed a ban on the movement of livestock around infected areas.

The disease is highly communicable and can kill carrier animals and ruin entire beef and milk-cow herds. It cannot be passed to humans.

However, prices of pork and beef dropped slightly as restaurants reported a decrease in the number of customers. South Korea consumed 395,000 tons of beef in 1999. Some 153,000 tons were imported from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

"It's very bad. If this situation doesn't change soon, it will ruin our business," said Park Choon-nam, owner of Hanwoobang restaurant in north Seoul, which specializes in beef dishes.

Park and her two employee sat idle Wednesday at the largely empty restaurant. Park says the restaurant, which serves grilled beef, used to be so packed that customers had to wait in long lines.

In a show of confidence, the office of President Kim Dae-jung said it was adding more beef and pork to the menu for the presidential Blue House, while Prime Minister Park Tae-joon ate beef in front of reporters late Tuesday.

Lee Wan-koo, an opposition legislator, was treated at a hospital after drinking a disinfectant for the foot-and-mouth disease, mistaking it for water, while holding an emergency meeting on the disease. Lee is in stable condition, hospital officials said.

Japan fears the spread of the disease. The Ministry of Agriculture said foot-and-mouth had been discovered in 10 cows that were slaughtered as a precautionary measure in the southern Miyazaki prefecture on March 25.

The first suspected outbreaks in the two nations in mid-March prompted the two countries to suspend imports of beef and pork from each other. Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China also banned imports from both countries.

It was the first confirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth in Asia since the disease virtually wiped out Taiwan's hog herd three years ago.

As a preventive measure, South Korea decided to inoculate all 11 million cattle and pigs in South Korea. The authorities sealed off infected areas and burned barns while soldiers set up roadblocks and let vehicles through after they were thoroughly fumigated.

Most livestock markets nationwide were indefinitely closed to prevent the further spread of the disease, while the government ordered vaccinations for 5 million animals from Britain, France and Germany.

The cause of the disease has not been determined yet.