Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn has issued a two-day nationwide "standstill" order on poultry farms to contain the spread of avian influenza.

Starting Tuesday, about 89-thousand chicken and duck production facilities around the country will be prohibited from transporting poultry.

The highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of bird flu has been spreading rapidly among farms in Eumseong in North Chungcheong Province and Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province.

Some eight-point-eight million birds have been culled, partially as a precautionary measure, and several government ministries are now cooperating in a joint emergency response to the spread of the virus.