Expanded Disinfection and Precision Inspections in Quarantine Zones
16 Billion Won in Emergency Quarantine Funds Allocated
After the first case of African Swine Fever (ASF) this year was confirmed in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, and an additional case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) was detected in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, the government has decided to strengthen its quarantine measures.
The Central Accident Management Headquarters for ASF and Highly Pathogenic AI held a meeting on the 17th, presided over by Vice Minister Kim Jonggu of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, to review the situation.
According to the headquarters, the first ASF case of the year occurred at a pig farm in Gangneung on this day. To prevent further spread, the authorities are culling 20,150 pigs at the affected farm. The headquarters stated that this culling represents less than 1% of the total pig population and is therefore not expected to have a significant impact on the domestic pork supply.
The headquarters is focusing disinfection efforts on 43 farms and surrounding roads in Gangneung and five neighboring cities and counties. Emergency precision inspections are being conducted at 10 farms within a 10-kilometer quarantine zone and at 27 epidemiologically linked farms. In addition, pig farms in the Gangwon region are required to undergo clinical and precision inspections every time pigs or manure are transported, as part of strengthened containment measures.
The 36th case of highly pathogenic AI was confirmed the previous day at a layer chicken farm in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. The headquarters has extended the operation of one-on-one supervisors for layer chicken farms with more than 50,000 birds (a total of 539 farms) until January 31, and will continue special management measures such as restricting vehicle and personnel access. Livestock vehicles found to be in violation of standards during quarantine inspections will be subject to environmental testing.
The headquarters is dispatching field response teams from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to areas at risk of additional outbreaks and has allocated 1.6 billion won in emergency quarantine funds to support local government testing and disinfection efforts.
Vice Minister Kim emphasized, "There may be cases of neglect in farm disinfection during the winter season," and urged, "Please strictly adhere to basic containment and quarantine rules, such as access control and disinfection."
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