'High Pathogenic AI Prevention'.. Yangju City Pilots 'Disease Management Grading System' at Layer Hen Farms

Detection of Highly Pathogenic AI Antigen on Migratory Bird Routes

[Provided by Yangju City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province announced on the 19th that it will pilot the 'Disease Management Grading System' targeting laying hen farms within the jurisdiction.

The 'Disease Management Grading System' is a system that grants choice to farms with good quarantine conditions and excellent biosecurity levels to be excluded from preventive culling, aiming to raise the voluntary biosecurity level of farms.

The application targets are laying hen farms such as laying hen breeding businesses and laying hen production grandparent stock farms permitted under the Livestock Act.

Especially this year, the pilot targets are laying hen farms with large-scale breeding and relatively good breeding and biosecurity facilities but where multiple outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) occurred due to insufficient biosecurity management.

For participating farms, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency evaluates the farm's biosecurity level, including quarantine facilities and equipment, biosecurity management standards, and classifies them into three types: 'Ga', 'Na', and 'Da', considering compliance with biosecurity guidelines and past outbreak history.

Farms classified as 'Ga' or 'Na' types in the evaluation will be given the option to be excluded from preventive culling, but if AI occurs, responsibility will be held, and culling compensation will be reduced.

A representative from the City Agricultural Technology Center said, "Highly pathogenic AI antigens have recently been detected along the migratory routes of European wild birds, and domestic AI outbreaks are expected," adding, "We urge all poultry farms applying for the Disease Management Grading System to strive for thorough biosecurity management to achieve high grades."

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