'Strengthening Foot-and-Mouth Disease Quarantine Measures'... Cattle Antibody Test Volume Expanded 3.4 Times

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Proposes Livestock Disease Control Improvements
Shortening Simultaneous Vaccination Period for Cattle and Goats to Enhance Focus
Farms with Low Antibody Positivity Rates to Face Immediate Fines

The government has decided to more than triple the volume of antibody tests for cattle to prevent the recurrence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and shorten the mass vaccination period to increase vaccination concentration.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 17th that it has prepared such a "Livestock Quarantine Improvement Plan."

FMD vaccination has been mandatory since 2010. Every year, a mass vaccination period for cattle and goats is held twice (in April and October), and FMD quarantine management is conducted by checking the antibody positivity rate on farms through antibody tests. However, since the antibody positivity rate of many farms where FMD occurred this year was found to be below the standard level, the government plans to strengthen FMD blocking quarantine by supplementing and improving these shortcomings.

First, to increase the vaccination concentration of farms that self-vaccinate, the mass vaccination period for cattle and goats will be shortened from the existing 6 weeks to 2 weeks for self-vaccinating farms and 4 weeks for farms supported by local governments. For animals exempted from vaccination, such as those in late pregnancy or young livestock, the scheduled vaccination date will be reported in advance to ensure no animals are missed during vaccination.

The volume of cattle antibody tests to verify proper vaccine administration on farms will be expanded 3.4 times from 160,000 heads annually to 540,000 heads. The number of animals tested on self-vaccinating farms will also increase from 5 to 16 heads, and farms with low antibody positivity rates will be immediately fined. Currently, 5 heads are tested first, and if insufficient, 16 heads are tested before imposing fines.

Additionally, to prevent the FMD virus from entering the country through imported livestock products, mass inspections of express cargo imported from regions where FMD is endemic, such as Southeast Asia, will be conducted continuously. Specific quarantine procedures will be established requiring express delivery operators to notify quarantine authorities of quarantine items before customs X-ray inspections.

The response system for FMD outbreaks will also be improved. In the event of a domestic FMD outbreak, to quickly block the spread to surrounding farms, the culling range for vaccine-type FMD outbreaks will be changed to include all animals on the affected farm. Furthermore, to respond swiftly to crisis situations, the FMD alert levels will be simplified from the current four stages (Interest - Caution - Alert - Serious) to three stages (Interest - Caution - Serious). The alert stage, which could previously only be issued nationwide, will be improved to allow issuance at regional levels such as cities and counties.

An Yong-deok, Director of the Quarantine Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "FMD can recur at any time if quarantine management is neglected, so everyone must work together on quarantine efforts," adding, "We will systematically promote and operate this FMD quarantine management improvement plan."

(Photo) [Image source=Yonhap News]

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