A, the owner of a cattle farm in Muan, South Jeolla Province, where foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was first confirmed, expressed his frustration in a phone call with the Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 17th. Currently refraining from contact with outsiders, he said, "I tried my best (for quarantine), but I don't know where or how the infection occurred," and added, "I'm mentally exhausted."

At A's farm, three out of 88 cattle were confirmed with FMD the previous day. A requested a disease diagnosis from the quarantine authorities on the 15th after some of his cattle showed suspected FMD symptoms such as runny noses. All cattle on the farm were culled to prevent further spread to other farms.

FMD is spreading mainly in the South Jeolla region. Five farms in South Jeolla Province have reported FMD cases. After the first outbreak at a farm in Yeongam on the 14th, three additional cases were confirmed at farms within 1-3 km. On the 16th, FMD spread to A's farm in Muan County, about 17 km from the first outbreak farm.

The town of Illo-eup, Muan County, was eerily quiet when visited on this day. Only a few residents were seen entering and leaving the town office, and it was hard to find residents on the streets. The surrounding shops were also hit hard as outsiders stopped visiting. Despite lunchtime, nearby restaurants and cafes were empty. A nearby restaurant owner said, "I don't know what this bolt from the blue is. The already quiet village feels like a ghost town."

All farms were on emergency alert. The cattle market, which opens once a week, was suspended. A complete movement ban was imposed on all cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, pigs, goats, and deer, due to FMD infection concerns. Muan County has a total of 300,000 cloven-hoofed animals, and Yeongam County has 163,000. Although emergency vaccinations were given to all cloven-hoofed animals within a 3 km radius of the FMD outbreak farms in Yeongam and Muan Counties by this morning, the farmers' anxiety has not subsided.

Kim Myung-jin (62), who raises about 20 cattle in Muan, said, "I'm very worried because it takes more than a week for antibodies to form even after vaccination," and added, "All external meetings and events have been canceled."

Two entrances to A's farm were blocked with signs saying, "Entry of people and vehicles is prohibited due to FMD quarantine measures." From a distance, quarantine officials wearing white quarantine suits were seen busily working on disinfection and culling inside the farm.

This is the first time FMD has occurred in South Jeolla Province. South Jeolla had maintained its reputation as an "FMD-free zone" since 2002, but it lost its reputation due to this FMD outbreak.

The South Jeolla Province and the Central Disaster Management Headquarters for FMD have raised the response crisis level to "serious" in 10 nearby regions, including Yeongam and Muan Counties, to quickly contain the situation and are making every effort to prevent early spread. South Chungcheong Province has started FMD vaccination ahead of the scheduled vaccination in two weeks, and Daegu is also vaccinating cloven-hoofed animals in its jurisdiction, raising the response level of each local government.

Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, visited the livestock quarantine situation room at the South Jeolla Provincial Office on this day to check the quarantine progress. Minister Song said, "Please do your best to quickly end FMD through rapid vaccination and thorough disinfection and quarantine." Kim Young-rok, Governor of South Jeolla Province, who met with Minister Song, proposed "special grant tax support" for emergency quarantine response.

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