Yeongdeok-gun, Full Effort in Emergency Response System for African Swine Fever ... Thorough Prevention of Farm Inflow

Proactive Quarantine Measures, Inspections and Actions by Situation

Yeongdeok-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, has entered an emergency response system and is focusing all efforts on quarantine and blocking the inflow to pig farms after African Swine Fever (ASF) was confirmed in a wild boar carcass found in the area on the 9th.

Disinfection site at the entrance of a pig farm.

Currently, Yeongdeok-gun has issued movement restriction orders for 5,145 pigs at three farms within a 10 km quarantine zone from the wild boar carcass discovery site and has completed detailed inspections of the pigs being raised.

Additionally, access control, disinfection, and reinforcement of quarantine facilities are being implemented at farms within the quarantine zone. Comprehensive disinfection, quarantine status inspections, and strengthened quarantine management publicity are being conducted at all pig farms in the area to proactively prevent the virus from entering pig farms.

In cooperation with related agencies, the county has deployed military quarantine vehicles and two teams from the Livestock Cooperative Joint Disinfection Unit to intensify disinfection on roads around the outbreak site and near streams at pig farm entrances.

Furthermore, on the 10th, Yeongdeok-gun held a response status review meeting with the National Wildlife Disease Control Institute to discuss role-specific response measures and future plans.

Accordingly, the National Wildlife Disease Control Institute is focusing on sample collection, testing, situation assessment, and strengthening surveillance through the formation of a special surveillance team. The Wildlife Management Association is concentrating on searching and capturing wild boars in the virus-affected area using a drone capture team. Yeongdeok-gun is committed to thorough management and disposal of wild boar carcasses, intensive operation and education of the Yeongdeok-gun Wildlife Damage Prevention Team, continuous promotion of carcass reporting by residents, and ASF prevention behavioral guidelines.

County Governor Kim Gwang-yeol stated, “We are concentrating the county’s capabilities and administrative power to take proactive quarantine measures to prevent African Swine Fever from spreading to pig farms,” and urged, “To prevent the spread of infection, we ask not only farm workers but also all residents to actively cooperate with strict access control and intensive disinfection.”

Gyeongbuk Province is strengthening barrier quarantine measures to prevent further outbreaks following the occurrence of African Swine Fever in Uljin-gun and Yeongdeok-gun on the 8th and 9th.

As of March 9 this year, there have been 150 cases of African Swine Fever nationwide. In Gyeongbuk Province, there have been a total of 38 cases: 9 in Mungyeong-si, 2 in Yecheon-gun, 19 in Sangju-si, 5 in Bonghwa-gun, 1 in Uljin-gun, and 2 in Yeongdeok-gun.