100% Support for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Costs for Farms Raising 50 or Fewer Cattle

Promotion of Nationwide Simultaneous Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccination in the First Half of 2023

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 30th that, to prevent the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, it will conduct a nationwide mass vaccination of cattle and goats in the first half of the year starting next month. Vaccine costs will be fully covered for farms raising fewer than 50 animals.

Since 2017, the Ministry has been implementing biannual (April for the first half and October for the second half) foot-and-mouth disease vaccinations to ensure that all cattle and goat farms receive the vaccine without exception.

The mass vaccination for the first half will be conducted from April 1 to May 12. During this period, approximately 110,000 farms nationwide must vaccinate about 4,447,000 cattle and goats under their care against foot-and-mouth disease without fail.

The vaccine used is the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine (a mixed vaccine of serotype O and A) currently used as a regular vaccine in Korea. The government fully supports vaccine costs for farms raising fewer than 50 cattle and goat farms. Commercial farms raising 50 or more cattle receive 50% support. Additionally, for small-scale farms (raising fewer than 50 cattle or 300 goats), local governments will mobilize veterinarians and capture personnel (only for goats) to assist with vaccination.

Local governments plan to inspect the antibody positivity rate of farms starting four weeks after the mass vaccination to verify whether the vaccination was properly conducted. Farms with antibody positivity rates below the standard will be fined (5 million KRW for the first violation), and will be subject to revaccination and retesting at four-week intervals until the antibody positivity rate improves and is continuously managed.

Ahn Yong-deok, Director of the Quarantine Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "Although foot-and-mouth disease has not occurred domestically since 2019, it continues to occur in neighboring countries, so if farms neglect vaccination, an outbreak could happen at any time." He urged, "Please strictly follow proper vaccination methods, adhere to biosecurity measures, and thoroughly manage farm disinfection."