Seosan City Receives Minister of the Interior and Safety Award for Outstanding Response to Lumpy Skin Disease

Vaccination and Control Measures Initiated After First Lumpy Skin Disease Outbreak in October Last Year
Mass Vaccination of Approximately 38,000 Cattle Completed in April Last Year

Lee Wanseop, Mayor of Seosan, Chungnam, and related officials are taking a commemorative photo on the 13th in the mayor's office at City Hall after receiving the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award for their efforts in responding to Lumpyskin. /Seosan City

On the 14th, Seosan City in South Chungcheong Province announced that it had received the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award in recognition of its proactive control activities and early stabilization efforts through vaccination against lumpy skin disease.

Lumpy skin disease began in Anseong City, Gyeonggi Province in August last year and has since occurred 24 times in seven cities and provinces across the country, while Seosan City has maintained a record of zero cases.

Lumpy skin disease is a contagious cattle disease transmitted by insect vectors such as mosquitoes and biting flies. The city established preventive measures before the vector insects became active and implemented disease control in close cooperation with relevant agencies and local farmers.

In April last year, the city conducted a mass vaccination of approximately 31,000 cattle on 831 farms within its jurisdiction, and has continued to provide additional vaccinations to calves born after the initial campaign.

As a result, the number of vaccinated cattle in the area has reached about 38,000.

Additionally, to intensively control insect vectors during the summer, the city collaborated with the public health center to establish 20 routes across six regions, carrying out comprehensive vector control activities twice a week.

For small-scale farms vulnerable to disease outbreaks, five joint control teams were deployed to assist with barn disinfection, and farmers were regularly reminded of preventive measures via text messages and other means.

To encourage voluntary disease control among farmers, the city provided mosquito repellents, insect-repelling lamps, and other control equipment, as well as more than 2,300 containers of insecticide, around 2,600 sticky-type insect traps, and 1,300 kg of disinfectant for barns.

Mayor Lee Wan-seop stated, "We will continue to actively support disease control efforts among livestock farmers to maintain our lumpy skin disease-free status and minimize economic losses from livestock diseases."

Meanwhile, lumpy skin disease, a first-class legally designated livestock infectious disease, was first reported in Seosan City in October 2023. The city was able to bring the outbreak under control within just over two months through swift vaccination and control activities.