National Wildlife Disease Control Center to Commence Operations on the 29th... "Ensuring Ecosystem Health"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] A new 'National Wildlife Disease Management Institute' dedicated to handling wildlife diseases such as African Swine Fever (ASF) will be established.

The Ministry of Environment announced that the revision of the 'Ministry of Environment and Its Affiliated Agencies Organization Act,' which includes the establishment of the National Wildlife Disease Management Institute, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 22nd and will be promulgated and enforced on the 29th. The National Wildlife Disease Management Institute will begin operations on the 29th at its office located in Samgeo-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, and plans to hold an opening ceremony next month.

The National Wildlife Disease Management Institute will consist of three teams?Disease Surveillance Team, Disease Response Team, and Disease Research Team?with a total of 33 members. It will carry out tasks such as wildlife disease surveillance, epidemiological investigations, quarantine and crisis response, sample diagnosis and analysis, and development of response technologies.

The enforcement decree of the 'Wildlife Protection and Management Act (Wildlife Act),' which changes the institution responsible for wildlife disease tasks from the National Institute of Environmental Research to the Wildlife Disease Management Institute, was also approved on the same day and will be enforced on the 29th.

The authority to disclose wildlife disease occurrence data, previously held by the National Institute of Environmental Research, will be delegated to the National Wildlife Disease Management Institute. Institutions and individuals holding wildlife must regularly report the number of wildlife individuals and changes in protection facilities to the National Wildlife Disease Management Institute.

The Ministry of Environment also plans to promulgate and enforce, along with the enforcement decree revision, the amendment to the enforcement rules of the Wildlife Act, which changes the institution responsible for conducting epidemiological investigations of wildlife diseases and issuing orders such as vaccination and quarantine to the Director of the National Wildlife Disease Management Institute.

Park Yeon-jae, Director of Natural Conservation Policy at the Ministry of Environment, stated, "Concerns about emerging zoonotic diseases originating from wildlife are increasing worldwide. The establishment of the National Wildlife Disease Management Institute will strengthen systematic and professional responses to wildlife diseases, contributing to securing the health of wildlife as well as humans and the overall ecosystem."