Central Disaster and Safety Headquarters Raises Crisis Alert Level
Access Restricted at Affected Farm, Nationwide Temporary Movement Ban and Emergency Quarantine Measures
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has occurred at a Hanwoo farm in Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do. This is the first confirmed case of FMD in a domestic farm in 1 year and 10 months since May 2023.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for FMD announced on the 14th that a report of suspected FMD symptoms was received from a Hanwoo farm (raising about 180 cattle) located in Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do, and after conducting a detailed examination, the occurrence of FMD was confirmed.
FMD is a disease caused by infection with the foot-and-mouth disease virus in cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, and sheep. Due to its high contagiousness, it is designated as a Class 1 livestock infectious disease in Korea.
Following the FMD outbreak, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters raised the crisis alert level from the previous "interest" stage to the "outbreak" stage for Yeongam-gun and adjacent cities/counties (8 cities/counties), and to the "caution" stage for all other regions.
To prevent the spread of FMD, an initial quarantine team and an epidemiological investigation team were dispatched to the affected farm to control the entry of outsiders, livestock, and vehicles, and to conduct an epidemiological investigation. The cattle raised at the farm will be culled according to the emergency standard operating procedures (SOP).
To block contamination in the outbreak area, available disinfection resources (81 units) including wide-area sprayers and quarantine vehicles will be mobilized to intensively disinfect cloven-hoofed animal farms and surrounding roads in Yeongam-gun and seven adjacent cities/counties: Gangjin, Naju, Mokpo, Muan, Jangheung, Haenam, and Hwasun.
To prevent horizontal transmission between farms, a temporary movement ban has been issued nationwide for 48 hours from 8 a.m. on the day of the announcement until 8 a.m. on the 16th, targeting workers and vehicles at cloven-hoofed animal farms, slaughterhouses, feed factories, and other livestock-related facilities. Central inspection teams (3 teams, 6 members) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency will monitor compliance.
Additionally, emergency vaccinations and clinical examinations will be conducted for all cloven-hoofed animal farms (9,216 farms, 1,157,000 animals) in Yeongam-gun and the seven adjacent cities/counties, and nationwide FMD vaccination for cattle and goats will be advanced to be completed by the 31st of this month.
A representative from the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters urged, "To prevent the spread of FMD, related agencies and local governments should devote all efforts to rapid culling, detailed testing, and intensive disinfection measures," and requested, "Please adhere to basic quarantine rules such as disinfecting inside and outside the farm, disinfecting and changing boots when entering livestock barns."
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