[Square] ASF Quarantine... Need to Establish Customized Response Methods for Our Region

Johoseong, Professor at Jeonbuk National University College of Veterinary Medicine

While the whole world is suffering from the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that began in Wuhan, China, not many people seem to be aware that the number of wild boars testing positive for African Swine Fever (ASF) around us is also increasing daily.

Since ASF was first detected in farmed pigs in September last year and then in positive wild boar carcasses found in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and civilian control zone in October, reports have continued to come in. Fortunately, through the cooperation of the Ministry of Environment, which erected fences crossing the country east to west south of the infected areas and reduced the wild boar population to prevent the spread of infected wild boars; the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, which took proactive quarantine measures for pig farms; and the Ministry of National Defense, which worked to search and capture wild boars in the DMZ and civilian control line, ASF has been contained to the border area with North Korea. This outcome has attracted attention from neighboring countries struggling to control the disease as it rapidly spreads nationwide in a short period.

Moreover, if we are to be more ambitious, we should review and improve our ASF response over the past seven months. Initially, we could not find a response method suitable for the domestic situation. Despite our efforts to prevent its introduction, ASF eventually broke out domestically. Accordingly, we sought wisdom from the experiences of various European countries that had either successfully controlled or failed to control ASF outbreaks early on. In this process, many opinions and response measures from overseas experts were incorporated into domestic quarantine efforts. We erected primary and secondary fences around carcass discovery sites and even wider regional fences to block wild boar movement, quickly collected carcasses, and actively captured remaining wild boars to end the situation in the shortest time possible.

However, unlike the Czech Republic, where ASF mainly occurred in plains making fence installation relatively easy, South Korea’s mountainous terrain made it difficult to find or capture wild boar carcasses. Also, areas like the DMZ and civilian control zone naturally block wild boar movement but restrict public access, hindering the rapid removal of infected carcasses. Considering that the infectivity of infected carcasses can last up to six months, the inability to promptly find and collect carcasses has emerged as a new problem unique to us compared to Europe and other countries.

Epidemiological investigations detected the virus in habitats such as wild boar wallowing sites in these areas, which is presumed to be why positive wild boars continue to be found daily in small numbers. Therefore, from now on, what we need to do is develop a response method tailored to our own circumstances. While maintaining vigilance, we must avoid impatience and respond with a longer-term perspective. Continuously searching for and swiftly removing infected wild boar carcasses to prevent spread to domestic pigs is of utmost importance.

The global trend is to manage emerging diseases transmitted by wildlife under the one health concept, where humans and animals coexist healthily and safely. From this perspective, the soon-to-be-opened National Wildlife Disease Control Center holds great significance and heavy responsibility. Given the high likelihood of many emerging infectious diseases in the future, its importance will only increase. We should take this experience as an opportunity to shift from individual ministry responses to an integrated inter-ministerial control system, which will enable us to build a system capable of effectively responding to emerging infectious diseases. Now is the time to realize that strict quarantine based on principles is the only measure and to do our best to prevent introduction and spread.

Jo Hoseong, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeonbuk National University

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.