Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Strengthens Livestock Epidemic Prevention During Lunar New Year Holiday

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 1st that it conducted emergency quarantine duty during the Lunar New Year holiday period to prevent the occurrence and spread of livestock infectious diseases.

On Lunar New Year's Day, Vice Minister Kim Jong-hoon presided over a livestock infectious disease quarantine countermeasure situation meeting and instructed to maintain a thorough quarantine posture.

Amid the recent continued outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI), infected wild bird carcasses have been found in the Busan, Gyeongnam, and Gyeonggi regions, raising the risk of additional outbreaks at nearby poultry farms, prompting the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to call for caution.

Regarding African swine fever, recently, an infected wild boar was found in Boeun, Chungbuk, about 52 km southwest of the southernmost existing wild boar outbreak area, making it impossible to rule out the possibility that infected animals have spread to nearby areas. Accordingly, the Ministry plans to complete the installation of important quarantine facilities such as anterooms, disinfection rooms, loading/unloading platforms, and internal fences at pig farms in Boeun and six neighboring cities/counties (Goesan, Okcheon, Cheongju, Mungyeong, Sangju, Daejeon) by February.

The Ministry is also inspecting the quarantine status, including whether disinfection has been carried out at poultry and pig farms, through local government officers in charge (4,081 for poultry and 1,671 for pig farming).

Vice Minister Kim requested active participation in the intensive disinfection of farms, livestock-related facilities, and livestock vehicles on the 3rd, designated as the "National Simultaneous Disinfection Day" immediately after the holiday.

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