Gyeonggi Province is designating a special quarantine period and strengthening quarantine management to prevent the introduction and outbreak of livestock infectious diseases due to increased population movement and activity during the Lunar New Year holiday.
From the 9th to the 12th, Gyeonggi Province will designate a special quarantine management period to block Avian Influenza (AI) and African Swine Fever (ASF), aiming to completely prevent the introduction of virus contamination sources into livestock farms.
To this end, the 8th and 13th, before and after the Lunar New Year holiday, will be designated as "Nationwide Simultaneous Disinfection Days." Intensive disinfection will be conducted targeting areas within a 10 km radius of outbreak farms, migratory bird habitats, wild boar detection areas, densely populated farming areas, and small-scale farms, mobilizing all available quarantine personnel and disinfection vehicles from city/county offices, military units, and livestock cooperatives joint control teams.
During the holiday period, 36 base disinfection facilities and 46 control posts will be operated continuously in each city and county to strictly control and disinfect livestock vehicles.
Banners prohibiting entry to livestock farms will be posted at gathering facilities such as migratory bird habitats and multi-use terminals, and quarantine promotion will be conducted through various media including livestock organization websites, village broadcasts, text messages, and social networking services (SNS).
In particular, to enable rapid quarantine measures in case of livestock infectious disease outbreaks during the holiday period, the Livestock Quarantine Countermeasure Situation Room will operate 24 hours a day, maintaining a constant emergency response system with animal hygiene testing laboratories, city/county offices, and livestock cooperatives.
Additionally, quarantine officials from the province and cities/counties will be mobilized to guide and manage compliance with quarantine guidelines at layer farms with more than 100,000 birds (such as prohibition of manure removal and external visitor access) and to inspect the quarantine status of pig farms vulnerable to African Swine Fever.
Furthermore, designated city/county officials assigned to poultry and pig farms will check twice daily whether disinfection has been carried out and monitor for any abnormalities in livestock diseases.
Kim Jong-hoon, Director of the Livestock Animal Welfare Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The Lunar New Year holiday is a period with a very high risk of virus transmission due to increased population movement and activity. We ask that visits to farms be refrained from during the holiday, and livestock farms strictly adhere to basic quarantine rules such as daily disinfection, blocking external visitors, and prohibiting gatherings of livestock-related personnel."
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