Provincial Disaster Countermeasure Meeting Held on the 21st
Strengthening Management of Disinfection and Access Control
Jeollanam-do held a disaster countermeasure meeting at the provincial disaster situation room on the 21st to review the quarantine situation for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (AI), and decided to strengthen guidance and management to ensure that basic farm-level quarantine rules such as disinfection, monitoring, and access control are strictly followed.
One additional case of FMD was reported in Yeongam on the 20th, bringing the total to 12 cases in Yeongam and 1 in Muan, for a total of 13 cases as of this date.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has recently been detected at layer farms in Cheonan, Chungnam and Sejong, creating a situation where vigilance is necessary. The province is focusing all efforts on blocking transmission from wild animals and outbreak areas in other cities and provinces by maintaining heightened disinfection protocols and shortening the intervals for thorough inspections.
In particular, as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (AI) was detected in a wild leopard cat carcass found near Seryang-ri Reservoir in Hwasun following a resident report, emergency clinical monitoring was conducted at poultry farms within a 10km radius. Although no abnormalities were found, movement restrictions have been imposed for 21 days.
From the 21st, 11 administrative orders, such as restrictions on the entry of people and vehicles to poultry farms nationwide until the lifting of movement restrictions, and restrictions on livestock vehicles and personnel at migratory bird habitats, as well as 8 public notices including confirmation and storage of disinfection certificates for livestock vehicles, two-stage disinfection for vehicles entering farms, and prohibition of shared use of rice hull spreaders, will be re-implemented as part of the special AI quarantine measures period for poultry farms.
As of March, the number of migratory birds in Jeollanam-do is about 77,000, more than double the number during the same period last year (31,000).
At the meeting, Myung Changhwan, Vice Governor for Administrative Affairs of Jeollanam-do, instructed, "Until the vaccine effect for FMD is fully realized, we will mobilize all available resources to conduct intensive daily disinfection and focus all efforts on quarantine, including clinical observation and farm access control."
He added, "As the northward migration of migratory birds is delayed this year, the risk of highly pathogenic AI remains high in spring. Poultry farms must thoroughly disinfect both inside and outside the farm and strictly adhere to basic quarantine rules."
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