[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The African Swine Fever (ASF) Central Accident Response Headquarters (CARH) announced that, following the confirmation of ASF at a pig farm in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province, on the 23rd, an emergency quarantine situation inspection meeting was held with related agencies and local governments including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Environment, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, and Livestock Hygiene and Veterinary Support Headquarters.
The CARH immediately dispatched an initial response team and an epidemiological investigation team to the ASF outbreak site to implement urgent quarantine measures such as controlling the entry of outsiders, livestock, and vehicles into the farm, disinfection, and epidemiological investigation.
Furthermore, to block horizontal transmission between farms, a temporary movement suspension order (Standstill) was issued for 48 hours from 20:30 on the previous day until 20:30 on the 24th for workers and vehicles at pig farms, slaughterhouses, feed factories, and other livestock-related facilities in the Gyeonggi area (including Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, and Incheon). Compliance is being monitored.
Detailed inspections are being conducted on approximately 107 pig farms within the quarantine zone (within a 10 km radius of the outbreak farm) and those epidemiologically related to the outbreak farm. Clinical examinations are also being carried out on about 286 farms that visited slaughterhouses where pigs from the outbreak farm were sent.
To block contamination in the outbreak area, the CARH is mobilizing all available disinfection resources (92 units) including wide-area sprayers and water trucks to intensively disinfect pig farms and surrounding roads in 36 cities and counties in the Gyeonggi area.
In addition, the ASF outbreak situation has been communicated to all pig-rearing farms nationwide, and focused promotion of quarantine rules has been conducted through designated supervisors (268 people) for all 1,156 farms in the Gyeonggi area.
Kwon Jaehan, Director of Agricultural Innovation Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, urged, "Following outbreaks in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, and Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, the situation remains serious with ASF now confirmed in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. We ask related agencies, local governments, and pig farm stakeholders to make every effort to prevent further outbreaks." He requested local governments to utilize all available resources to conduct intensive disinfection to block contamination and to complete detailed inspections early for farms epidemiologically linked to the outbreak farm to block horizontal transmission.
He emphasized that pig-rearing farms must ensure that vehicles entering the farm pass through designated disinfection facilities, undergo disinfection at fixed disinfection stations at the farm entrance, and receive additional disinfection with high-pressure sprays on wheels and undersides of vehicles. He also urged immediate reporting to quarantine authorities if suspected ASF symptoms such as loss of appetite or increased mortality are observed in pigs under rearing, or if abnormal symptoms such as death occur in sows (mother pigs).
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