Seoul - South Korea has shut two-thirds of 106 livestock markets nationwide to try to contain an outbreak foot-and-mouth disease discovered last week, an agricultural ministry official said. The government has since halted pork exports following discovery of the outbreak in areas south of Seoul. Quarantine officials slaughtered some 8,700 pigs, while about 280 of the animals died of the disease, the government said at the time. A cow suspected of having the disease was cleared after an inspection, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said. The animal, reported to officials yesterday, was infected with bovine viral diarrhea, which is typically non-deadly, the ministry said in a statement. Foot-and-mouth spreads through the air and by contact with contaminated footwear, clothes and vehicles. It can infects pigs, cattle, sheep and other cloven-hoofed animals, reducing milk yields and impeding weight gain and reproduction, and may kill young animals. It is believed to be harmless to humans.:
