AI Quarantine-Excellence Farms Exempted from Preventive Culling... Customized Quarantine Measures Promoted

Vice Minister Park Young-beom of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Announces Measures to Improve High Pathogenic Avian Influenza Prevention

On February 15th, a quarantine vehicle was seen disinfecting the area of Baeksa-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, where highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) was confirmed. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Going forward, excellent biosecurity farms will be excluded from the preventive culling targets for highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI). The government's goal is to enhance farmers' willingness to implement biosecurity measures. Large-scale farms will operate their own biosecurity programs to increase accountability, while small and medium farms will be encouraged to supplement insufficient biosecurity facilities, strengthening customized biosecurity measures tailored to each facility.

On the 27th, Park Young-beom, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, announced measures to improve highly pathogenic AI biosecurity.

Incentives will be given to excellent farms by excluding them from preventive culling targets. A systemic foundation will be established to raise other farms to the level of excellent farms. Until now, poultry within 3 km of AI outbreak farms were, in principle, subject to preventive culling, but since February 15, after risk assessments and comprehensive farm inspections, preventive culling has been applied to the same species within 1 km.

However, as opinions have consistently emerged that this could undermine farmers' voluntary willingness to improve biosecurity, a disease management grading system will be introduced, and farms meeting a certain standard will be given the option to be excluded from preventive culling. To strengthen accountability, if highly pathogenic AI occurs in farms excluded from preventive culling, the compensation rate for culling will be reduced compared to the existing rate.

The disease management grading system will be piloted this year targeting layer farms, and based on performance analysis, it will be expanded to other livestock species.

Customized biosecurity will be promoted according to farm size. Large-scale poultry farms will be required to establish and operate their own biosecurity programs, with regular inspections conducted during normal times. Small and medium farms will be managed by establishing facility standards to prevent contamination from livestock vehicles such as manure and live animal transport vehicles and to disinfect these vehicles.

Additionally, rapid inspections and improvements of barrier biosecurity will be conducted starting with farms in 'priority biosecurity management zones' where the risk of highly pathogenic AI outbreaks is high and farms vulnerable to biosecurity.

Previously, when highly pathogenic AI occurred on farms, the crisis alert level was raised to 'severe,' but going forward, the severe alert level will be issued immediately upon detection of highly pathogenic AI antigens in wild birds.

Among various biosecurity measures such as administrative orders implemented during last year's and this year's special AI biosecurity periods, effective measures will be institutionalized by reflecting them in biosecurity standard operating procedures (SOPs). Furthermore, based on these measures, detailed implementation plans will be prepared with producer organizations and experts to ensure thorough execution.

Vice Minister Park emphasized, "The most effective and simplest way to protect farms from highly pathogenic AI is to follow basic biosecurity rules such as hand sanitization and changing boots when entering livestock facilities, and cleaning and disinfecting inside and outside the farm," urging farm and facility personnel to make compliance with biosecurity rules a daily habit.

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