Confirmed Cases of Lumpyskin Disease Increase to 34 Over Six Days

The number of confirmed cases of the livestock infectious disease 'Lumpy Skin Disease' has increased to over 30 in six days. The affected areas have also expanded to a total of six cities and provinces.

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. Photo by Yonhap News

The Lumpy Skin Disease Central Accident Response Headquarters (CARH) announced on the 25th at 7 p.m. that the total confirmed cases have risen to 34.

The first domestic case was reported on the 20th, followed by 3 cases on the 21st, 6 on the 22nd, 7 on the 23rd, and 12 cases the previous day.

The five additional cases confirmed on this day were found in Seosan-si and Dangjin-si in Chungnam, Hwaseong-si in Gyeonggi, Ganghwa-gun in Incheon, and Buan-gun in Jeonbuk. This is the first time a confirmed case has been reported in Jeonbuk.

A total of 2,459 cattle from 34 farms are being culled.

Separately, CARH is currently conducting tests on four suspected cases that have been reported.

Although Lumpy Skin Disease was first confirmed on the 20th, quarantine authorities believe the virus was introduced into the country around mid-last month. They estimate that the farms where cases have been confirmed were infected earlier and that symptoms appeared after an incubation period of several weeks. This suggests that there may already be many infected animals in the country.

To prevent the spread of Lumpy Skin Disease, quarantine authorities have decided to vaccinate cattle farms nationwide by early next month. Additionally, 4 million doses of vaccine will be newly imported by the end of this month to support this effort.

Meanwhile, as quarantine measures continue, the supply of Korean beef has temporarily become unstable, causing the wholesale price of Korean beef to rise by 13.1% compared to a week ago, reaching 20,053 KRW per kilogram the previous day.

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