African Swine Fever Ahead of Chuseok... Government Says "High Possibility of Additional Outbreaks"

"High Risk of Disease Spread Due to Population Movement... Full Efforts to Strengthen Quarantine Measures"

The government announced on the 31st that it will strengthen quarantine measures such as disinfection and detailed inspections after confirming the occurrence of African Swine Fever (ASF) at a pig farm in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province.

The ASF Central Accident Response Headquarters (CARH) held a meeting with related ministries and local governments on the same day to review the outbreak situation and quarantine measures.

On the 12th, an ASF confirmed case was reported at a pig farm in Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongbuk Province, and on this day, a confirmed case was also reported at a pig farm located in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province. The CARH is conducting an epidemiological investigation at the Gimpo-si pig farm and is implementing emergency quarantine measures. Additionally, to prevent further spread, disinfection is being carried out at 407 pig farms in Gimpo-si and neighboring cities and counties.

Detailed inspections will be conducted at 13 pig farms within a 10 km radius of the outbreak farm's quarantine zone and at about 20 pig farms epidemiologically related to the outbreak farm. Clinical inspections will also be conducted at approximately 370 pig farms where vehicles that entered slaughterhouses receiving pigs from the outbreak farm have visited. The CARH has decided to conduct clinical and detailed inspections when pigs are moved from pig farms in Gyeonggi Province to slaughterhouses and other locations. Furthermore, pig farms in border areas will be monitored daily by phone for any abnormalities.

Kim Jong-gu, Director of the Agricultural Innovation Policy Office at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "Looking at the pattern of ASF outbreaks mostly occurring in the fall season so far, the possibility of additional outbreaks this fall is very high," and requested, "Each local government should thoroughly manage quarantine measures to minimize additional outbreaks." Since 2019, a total of 46 ASF cases have occurred at domestic pig farms, with 14 cases (30%) in September and 8 cases (17%) in October.

Kim added, "During the Chuseok holiday, there is a high risk of virus transmission due to increased movement of people and vehicles," urging, "Please ensure there is no negligence in disinfecting major roads, searching and capturing wild boars, and inspecting fences to eliminate contamination sources before Chuseok." However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated that the number of pigs culled due to this ASF outbreak is about 0.03% of the total pig population, so the impact on domestic pork supply is not significant.