Gangwon-do, 'Preventing Additional ASF Spread'... Full Effort to Preempt Livestock Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Joint Inspection of the Operation Status of 15 Cooperative Livestock Associations' Joint Control Teams in Provinces, Cities, and Counties from the 7th

Situation Inspection Meeting Led by the Director of Agricultural Policy Bureau, Gangwon Province [Gangwon Province]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Following the occurrence of the first African Swine Fever (ASF) case this year on the 26th of last month at a pig farm in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, Gangwon is taking measures to prevent further spread of ASF and to preemptively block national disaster-level livestock infectious diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease.

According to the province on the 5th, quarantine authorities culled all 100 pigs raised at the affected farm and issued a temporary movement ban order on pig farms and slaughterhouses across Gyeonggi and Gangwon areas.

Additionally, from the 7th for four days, joint inspections by the province, cities, and counties will be conducted on the operation status of joint quarantine teams (49 squads) by visiting 15 livestock cooperatives within the province.

Currently, the joint quarantine teams support disinfection for small-scale livestock farms where quarantine is easily neglected: farms with fewer than 10 cattle, deer, or goats; fewer than 500 pigs; between 500 and 3,000 chickens; and fewer than 2,000 ducks.

This includes 2,158 cattle farms, 128 deer farms, 955 goat (including sheep) farms, 55 pig farms, 45 chicken farms, and 1 duck farm, totaling 3,342 livestock farms.

By region, there is one traditional market for poultry trading (Donghae Bukpyeong Market) and five densely populated breeding areas (4 in Cheorwon, 1 in Yangyang).

The inspection items include ▲appropriate staffing of joint quarantine team personnel ▲management status of target farms ▲disinfection performance and disinfectant management ▲compliance with quarantine rules ▲proper budget execution ▲management of disinfection vehicle operations.

In particular, random visits to livestock farms will be conducted to check actual disinfection and proper completion of disinfection logs.

Seo Jong-eok, Director of the Animal Quarantine Division, urged, "To block infection at farms, please adhere to basic quarantine rules such as controlling farm access for outsiders and vehicles, disinfecting inside and outside of barns, and changing into dedicated boots for the barns."

The province is also making every effort to prevent further spread considering the incubation period of ASF that occurred at the Hongcheon farm.

It is not safe for at least three weeks, and if basic quarantine rules are not followed, additional outbreaks can occur at any time, so the quarantine situation in cities and counties is being specially managed.

Earlier, the province requested city and county quarantine department heads to ▲reorganize the eight major quarantine facilities and promptly supplement any deficiencies found ▲strengthen responsibility management such as dedicated officers’ farm surveillance and inspections ▲enhance education and publicity targeting pig farms and foreign workers.

Kim Bok-jin, Director of the Agricultural Policy Bureau, emphasized, "Reorganizing the eight major quarantine facilities, dedicated officer responsibility management, and education and publicity are important," adding, "Please engage in blocking quarantine with the determination that not a single additional farm outbreak will be tolerated."

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