Gyeongbuk Province, Stop the Outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF)!

On the 26th, ASF Occurs at a Pig Farm in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do After About 7 Months

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] Gyeongbuk Province announced on the 26th that African Swine Fever (ASF) occurred at a pig farm in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, and that it will make every effort to implement emergency quarantine measures and block the spread of the disease.

According to the temporary movement suspension order, personnel and vehicles related to pig farming are prohibited from moving to the Gyeonggi and Gangwon regions until 6:30 PM on the 28th.

Regarding this occurrence in Gangwon, 19 farms epidemiologically related to the area will be subject to a 21-day movement restriction, emergency surveillance, and detailed inspections, and five livestock facilities will operate after cleaning and disinfection measures.

Additionally, a comprehensive inspection of farms with weak quarantine measures or inadequate facilities will be intensively conducted until the end of this month.

According to the province, so far, African Swine Fever in wild boars has spread beyond Gyeonggi and Gangwon to Chungbuk, and to Sangju, Mungyeong, and Uljin in Gyeongbuk, and the occurrence in pig farms is the first in seven months since the outbreak in the Inje area in October last year.

Gyeongbuk Province has been promoting the installation of strengthened quarantine facilities at pig farms to prevent the ASF virus from entering farms, and plans to support a total project cost of 15.1 billion KRW for this purpose.

The province stated that once the amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Livestock Infectious Disease Prevention Act is promulgated in June, the installation of strengthened quarantine facilities will be mandatory until the end of this year, and specially urged pig farms to complete the installation within the deadline to avoid penalties such as fines.

Currently, among the 656 pig farms in the province, 470 farms, accounting for 71%, have completed the installation of strengthened quarantine facilities (anterooms and internal fences).

The environmental department has also designated eight cities and counties as intensive management areas since April to reduce the wild boar population, mobilizing 240 permanent capture teams and 80 joint search teams from the Environmental Agency for focused capture and search operations.

The intensive management areas include Gimcheon, Gumi, Yeongju, Sangju, Mungyeong, Yecheon, Bonghwa, and Uljin.

Furthermore, detailed inspections are conducted on all captured or found dead wild boars, and efforts are made to block the spread of the ASF virus in wild boars through enhanced disinfection of surrounding habitats and environmental inspections.

Kim Jongsu, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock, and Distribution Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “May and June see a rapid increase in the wild boar population, and with frequent hiking and farming activities, the risk of virus transmission increases significantly,” urging, “Farms should promptly install strengthened quarantine facilities and strictly adhere to quarantine guidelines.”