By Kwon Mee-yoo
All 84 livestock markets across the nation were closed Wednesday for an indefinite period due to a foot-and-month disease outbreak in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries originally planned to close down 82 cattle markets on the mainland to prevent spread of the disease, but two markets on Jeju Island joined the shutdown voluntarily.
Cases of foot-and-mouth disease were discovered in two pig farms and a cattle farm in Andong, Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
Another farm in Yeongyang, some 30 kilometers away from Andong, was suspected of harboring the disease, but tests proved negative.
According to health officials, the owner of the farm visited Vietnam last month and there are migrant workers from Southeast Asia working there. In the past this has been an infection route for the highly contagious disease, however, the exact infection source has not been confirmed yet.
A total of 120 cattle and 12,100 pigs have been slaughtered because of the outbreak as of Wednesday. Some 30,000 more livestock are expected to be culled to prevent the spread of the disease.
Meanwhile, two civil servants of Andong were injured during quarantine measures and sent to hospital. According to the local administration, a 52-year-old official identified as Geum, working at a prevention post, collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where he is in critical condition.
Another city employee Kim, 39, fell from a 2-meter-high bridge and injured her spine.