Chungnam Province Launches Emergency Mass Vaccination of Cattle and Goats Following Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak in Jeonnam

Emergency Mass Vaccination for 550,000 Cattle and Goats
Chungnam Province Moves Up Disease Prevention Efforts by Two Weeks

Chungnam Provincial Government

Chungnam Province announced on the 14th that, following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at a Hanwoo cattle farm in Yeongam-gun, Jeonnam, it will conduct an emergency mass vaccination for all cattle and goat farms within the province.

This emergency mass vaccination, originally scheduled for April to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, will be moved up by two weeks and carried out from the 14th until the end of this month.

The vaccination targets 550,000 cattle and goats raised by 14,000 farms in the province. For cattle farms with fewer than 50 animals and goat farms with fewer than 300 animals, public veterinarians will visit and administer the vaccinations directly. Larger-scale commercial farms will conduct the vaccinations themselves.

To assess the effectiveness of the mass vaccination, the province plans to test the regional antibody positivity rates for the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine four weeks after the vaccinations are completed.

If the antibody positivity rates fall below the legal threshold (at least 80% for cattle and 60% for goats), the province will impose fines, require additional vaccinations, and conduct retesting after one month as part of special management measures to strengthen foot-and-mouth disease prevention.

Lee Jeongsam, Director of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Livestock, emphasized, "Since foot-and-mouth disease can be prevented through thorough vaccination, we urge that every susceptible animal, including all cattle and goats being raised, be vaccinated without omission."

Meanwhile, Chungnam Province has maintained a foot-and-mouth disease-free status for nine years since the last outbreak in March 2016.