Jeongeup to Begin 'Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccination' Next Month

Early Vaccination for 109,071 Cattle and Goats
Proactive Response to Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak
Support Teams to Visit Small Farms
Strict Monitoring and Subsidies to Ensure Compliance

Jeongeup City in North Jeolla Province will vaccinate 109,071 cattle and goats (98,684 cattle and 10,387 goats) against foot-and-mouth disease from the 1st to the 30th of next month.

According to the city on the 29th, this round of vaccinations has been scheduled earlier than usual (October) for the second half of the year, as a proactive measure in response to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Jeonnam region in March this year.

Jeongeup City will vaccinate 109,071 cattle and goats against foot-and-mouth disease from the 1st to the 30th of next month. Photo by Jeongeup City

For farms raising fewer than 50 cattle and all goat farms, a "vaccination support team" consisting of 10 contract veterinarians and a correction team from the goat producers' association will visit directly to carry out early vaccinations.

Small-scale farms will receive vaccines free of charge, while farms with 50 or more cattle will conduct self-vaccination but will receive a 50% subsidy for vaccine purchase costs to reduce their financial burden.

However, livestock that have not yet passed four weeks since their last preventive vaccination, or cattle in late pregnancy (from seven months to delivery), may be excluded from this round of vaccination upon request from the farm. Nevertheless, vaccination must be completed immediately once the reason for exclusion, such as delivery, is resolved.

To confirm compliance, the city will monitor antibody positivity rates within four weeks after vaccination. If the rates fall below the standard, a fine of up to 10 million won will be imposed. As retesting will be conducted until the antibody positivity rate improves, farms must take special care to avoid missing any vaccinations.

A city official stated, "Recently, a considerable number of farms have reported antibody positivity rates below the standard in tests. Since Jeongeup has one of the largest cattle populations nationwide, we ask everyone to work together to ensure thorough early vaccination so that Jeongeup can become a model city for foot-and-mouth disease prevention."