29 Cases of Lumpy Skin Disease Reported in Ganghwa and Yanggu... Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters "Stabilization by Late November"

130,000 Doses Administered Out of 187,000 Vaccine Targets So Far
Vaccination of Small Farms Nationwide to be Completed by Early November

The spread of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) continues unabated, with additional cases reported yesterday in Incheon Ganghwa and Yanggu, Gangwon Province. The government plans to prioritize vaccination at affected farms and those at risk, urgently importing additional vaccines to complete vaccination of all cattle farms nationwide by early November. If vaccination proceeds smoothly, the trend of LSD cases is expected to stabilize by the end of next month.

Cases Increase to 29 Within Five Days of First Occurrence... Further Spread Inevitable for Now

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for Lumpy Skin Disease (Head: Jeong Hwang-geun, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) as of 8 a.m. on the 25th, a total of 29 cases of cattle LSD have been detected across 11 cities and counties nationwide. Testing is currently underway for seven additional locations.

LSD was first detected on the 20th at a Hanwoo cattle farm in Seosan, Chungnam Province, and increased to 29 cases within five days. The disease has spread from Chungnam to Gyeonggi, Chungbuk, Gangwon, and Incheon regions.

Lumpy Skin Disease is a viral disease that infects only cattle and is not transmissible to humans. It is characterized by high fever and skin nodules (hard lumps). It is mainly transmitted by blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes, with a mortality rate below 10%.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters is mobilizing all available resources to prevent the spread of LSD. Immediate initial quarantine measures include culling affected farms, temporary movement restrictions, and emergency disinfection. Emergency vaccination and blood-sucking insect control are being implemented in areas near affected farms. Considering that it takes about three weeks for antibodies to develop after vaccination and the current trend of cases, the headquarters expects a high likelihood of additional cases in the near term.

Accordingly, the headquarters plans to use 540,000 doses of pre-stocked vaccines to vaccinate farms within 20 km of the initial affected farm and within 10 km of additional affected farms within five days of detection. As of the previous day, 132,000 of the 187,000 target cattle (70%) have been vaccinated.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, an official from Nonghyup is administering a vaccine for Lumpy Skin Disease, a viral disease in cattle, at a livestock farm in Bongnak-ri, Buseok-myeon, Seosan-si, Chungnam.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Urgent Vaccine Import to Complete Vaccination of All Cattle Farms Nationwide by Early November

To stabilize the LSD outbreak, the headquarters has decided to urgently import a total of 4 million doses of vaccine by the 31st. Initially, 1.27 million doses will be imported by the 28th of this month, with the remaining 2.73 million doses to be brought in by the 31st. Final coordination is underway with domestic vaccine suppliers and overseas manufacturers.

Once vaccines arrive domestically, they will be rapidly distributed in the order of affected cities/counties → adjacent cities/counties → affected provinces → other provinces, aiming to complete vaccination of all cattle farms nationwide by early November. If nationwide vaccination is completed without delay, considering the antibody formation period (three weeks post-vaccination), the headquarters expects the LSD outbreak trend to stabilize by the end of November.

However, to prevent disease spread before nationwide vaccination is complete, movement of cattle in affected and adjacent cities/counties will be restricted (only shipments to slaughterhouses allowed). For livestock manure, movement will be permitted only after negative results from detailed testing.

In addition to people and vehicles, intensive control of blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes and flies, which are major vectors of LSD, will be conducted using vehicles from city/county health centers to perform fogging around farms. Removal of breeding sites such as puddles and education on insect control for farmers are also being prioritized.

To detect affected farms early, clinical examinations of farms within quarantine zones and epidemiologically related farms are to be completed within two days, with prompt detailed testing conducted if suspicious symptoms are observed.

Ongoing Epidemiological Investigation into Possible Introduction of Virus-Infected Mosquitoes from Overseas

The headquarters is also conducting an epidemiological investigation into the cause of the outbreak. Historically, LSD was endemic only in Africa but spread to the Middle East in 2012 and has since expanded to Russia, Central Asia, and East Asia (including China and Taiwan).

Considering the domestic outbreak pattern so far, the headquarters is investigating various possibilities, including that virus-infected mosquitoes or other blood-sucking insects may have been carried by air currents from overseas, or that increased international exchanges post-COVID-19 may have introduced the virus via ships or ports. Based on clinical symptoms of infected cattle at the first affected farm, infection is estimated to have occurred around mid-September.

Kwon Jae-han, Director of Agricultural Innovation Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "Lumpy Skin Disease is not transmissible to humans, and all infected cattle are culled, so the disease does not enter the food supply chain. The public can safely consume beef and milk." He added, "Given the domestic beef supply situation and the characteristics of milk price determination, the impact on prices is expected to be minimal." He urged, "All cattle farmers should thoroughly control blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes and immediately report any suspicious symptoms to livestock quarantine authorities."

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