Japan will slaughter dozens of its top Wagyu stud bulls as a foot-and-mouth outbreak continues its rapid spread through the country's south.

The outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease has brought a halt to all exports of Japanese beef and pork.

The country's top stud bull for the famed Miyazaki Wagyu beef has already had to be slaughtered.

Japan will now destroy another 49 seed bulls, leaving only five left.

Farmers had begged the government to spare the animals, but their pleas were rejected by the country's agriculture minister.

More than 150,000 pigs and 50,000 cows have been destroyed as the foot-and-mouth outbreak continues to spread through the southern island of Kyushu.