[Asia Economy (Uijeongbu) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is promoting special quarantine measures to block the entry of the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus into livestock farms caused by heavy rainfall.
The province will first operate a "Unified Disinfection Day" every Wednesday, timed to coincide with the end of the heavy rainfall. Extensive disinfection will be carried out on all pig farms in the province, major roads in border areas, and the Imjin and Hantan River basins.
To this end, the province will mobilize available equipment and personnel in cooperation with city and county offices, livestock cooperatives, and military units, including 12 wide-area pest control machines, 88 pest control vehicles, 40 cooperative pest control teams from livestock cooperatives, and 16 military decontamination vehicles.
The military decontamination vehicles will be responsible for disinfecting roads near wild boar ASF outbreak points and areas around rivers, while city and county offices and cooperative pest control teams will handle disinfection of all pig farms, especially those vulnerable to infection.
Additionally, the Animal Hygiene Testing Laboratory will provide emergency disinfection support to 59 farms affected by the heavy rainfall.
The province has also designated personnel to conduct daily surveillance and inspections at 71 ASF burial sites within the province.
Furthermore, the province is guiding farms on quarantine implementation methods via phone calls, text messages (SMS), and messengers to ensure compliance with quarantine rules such as disinfection inside and outside pigsties, changing boots, and hand washing.
Kim Seong-sik, Director of the Livestock and Forestry Bureau of the province, stated, "We will maintain quarantine readiness by mobilizing all available resources to prevent the ASF virus from entering farms," and urged, "We ask farms to actively participate by adhering to voluntary quarantine rules."
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