Sharing Migratory Bird Data via AI and Strengthening Farm-Level Disease Control... Government Makes All-Out Effort for Preemptive Animal Epidemic Prevention

Special Winter Animal Epidemic Prevention Measures
Special Animal Epidemic Prevention Period Set from October This Year to February Next Year
Focused Disease Control in High-Risk and Vulnerable Areas

The government has designated the period from October this year to February next year as a special animal epidemic prevention period and will strengthen proactive and farm-level disease control measures. By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), the authorities will notify farms in advance if the number of migratory birds in a specific area increases beyond a certain threshold, enabling them to prepare for the potential spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Inspections and management of high-risk farms and vulnerable facilities will also be significantly reinforced.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on September 24 that it will implement the "2025-2026 Winter Season Special Animal Epidemic Prevention Measures."

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "To prevent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) and other animal diseases that are likely to be introduced during the winter due to migratory bird movements, we have designated the period from October this year to February next year as a special animal epidemic prevention period and will strengthen disease control measures." The official added, "In particular, considering the earlier-than-usual occurrence of highly pathogenic AI (September 12, Paju, Gyeonggi Province) and consecutive outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) (September 14, Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province) compared to previous years, we are making an all-out effort to prevent further outbreaks."

◆ Focused Disease Control in High-Risk and Vulnerable Areas, Strengthening Farm-Level Responsibility = For highly pathogenic AI, overseas outbreaks increased by 85% compared to the same period last year (January to August), and in Korea, there have been summer cases (June) due to delayed northward migration of migratory birds, as well as earlier domestic outbreaks than usual. The epidemiological investigation of 49 farms affected last winter revealed deficiencies in farm biosecurity, such as failure to disinfect farms, not wearing protective clothing, and not disinfecting vehicles. In response, the ministry will reinforce a three-tiered disease control system: "managing migratory bird entry, blocking farm entry, and preventing inter-farm transmission."

First, transmission factors such as migratory birds and vehicles will be intensively blocked. In collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, the number of migratory bird habitat survey sites will be expanded from an average of 175 to 200 locations, and the survey frequency will be maintained at once a month from October to March, but increased to twice a month during the high-risk northward migration period (February to March). In addition, the number of checkpoints restricting access to migratory bird habitats for livestock-related personnel and vehicles will be increased from 218 to 247 locations (with fines of up to 10 million won for violations), and daily intensive disinfection will be conducted.

Inspections and management of high-risk farms and vulnerable facilities will also be significantly strengthened. For large layer farms with more than 100,000 birds (214 farms), which would suffer significant damage in the event of an outbreak, the frequency of precision inspections will be reduced from once per quarter to once every two weeks to improve early detection and initial response. In densely populated layer farm areas, the operation of equipment to block migratory birds, such as nets and lasers, will be checked weekly, and physical measures such as plowing nearby rice fields will be implemented to prevent feeding activities by migratory birds. For poultry integrators (91 companies) raising broilers and ducks, from January 23, 2026, contract farms will be subject to mandatory disease control management, with non-compliance resulting in fines of up to 50 million won. Vulnerable farms and facilities, such as native chicken farms and traditional markets, will undergo daily disinfection, and the 419 farms found lacking during inspections in the first half of the year will be required to make improvements by the end of the year.

In the event of an outbreak, inspections will be intensified, and secondary transmission due to culling methods will be prevented. When highly pathogenic AI occurs, nationwide disinfection will be carried out daily, the inspection frequency for each type of livestock will be significantly shortened, and pre-shipment inspections for all livestock will become mandatory. To prevent secondary transmission during culling, the standards for carcass disposal will also change. Instead of incineration, which risks spreading the virus through contaminated materials like feathers and feces, eco-friendly burial methods will be prioritized to ensure both safety and environmental protection.

Furthermore, the government will seek to stabilize prices by minimizing culling and strengthening compensation and penalties to encourage farm-level responsibility. The scope of preventive culling will be rationally adjusted based on risk assessment. In principle, all farms within a 500-meter radius of the outbreak farm will be subject to culling, but if the risk of transmission is low, certain livestock may be excluded to minimize disruptions in livestock product supply. Farms that have faithfully implemented disease control measures will be given benefits such as the option to be excluded from culling, while violations such as failure to install disinfection or disease control facilities or inadequate CCTV management will result in fines of up to 10 million won. These measures aim to encourage voluntary disease control by balancing compensation and penalties.

◆ Strengthening Vaccination Management, Minimizing Culling, and Thorough Management to Prevent Foot-and-Mouth Disease Recurrence = For foot-and-mouth disease, a vaccination-centered prevention system will be further reinforced. The nationwide antibody positivity rate for both cattle and pigs exceeds 90%, which is favorable; however, given outbreaks in neighboring countries such as China and a case in Jeonnam in March, further precautions are necessary. The ministry has moved up the vaccination period from October to September to reduce immune gaps, strengthened antibody testing for vulnerable animals such as cattle under 12 months old to prevent missed vaccinations, and expanded slaughterhouse antibody testing to 200,000 animals. In addition, the ministry will systematize a database of farm-level (cattle) vaccination and disease control facility information, and selectively inspect high-risk areas such as cities and counties with outbreaks in the past five years or with more than 50,000 animals raised.

In the event of an outbreak, additional vaccinations will be rapidly administered to neighboring cities and counties, and culling will be improved so that only the entire herd at the first outbreak farm in each city or county is culled, while subsequent outbreak farms will only cull positive animals. Culled farms will undergo clinical surveillance and precision inspections at least twice a week, and disinfection checks before restocking will be conducted to break the cycle of recurrence.

◆ Blocking ASF Outbreaks by Intensively Managing Vulnerable Areas such as Gyeonggi Province = For African swine fever (ASF), disease control in vulnerable areas such as Gyeonggi Province and border regions will be strengthened. While the mandatory installation of eight types of biosecurity facilities has generally improved farm-level disease control, risks persist in areas with high densities of wild boars, such as Gyeonggi Province, where five cases have been reported. The ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, will deploy additional wild boar capture traps to improve the precision of capture and search operations, and will deploy more disinfection vehicles in border areas to strengthen disease control. In densely populated pig farming areas, the inspection system will be upgraded from a two-stage process led by local governments and the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency to a three-stage process with the ministry conducting the final inspection to identify and address vulnerabilities early.

In the event of an outbreak, management of affected areas, farms, and neighboring regions will be strengthened. In the four high-risk zones-Incheon and Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and Chungbuk-movement of pigs and manure will be prohibited and precision inspections will be mandatory. Dedicated officials will be assigned to outbreak areas, one-on-one customized consulting will be provided to affected farms, and special inspections will be conducted in outbreak and neighboring cities and counties to reinforce practical disease control management.

Choi Jeongrok, Director of the Animal Health Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "Given the seriousness of the early occurrence of highly pathogenic AI, the ministry will implement winter season special animal epidemic prevention measures without fail to prevent the outbreak and spread of animal diseases." He emphasized, "Above all, farm-level biosecurity is most important, so we urge all livestock farms to strictly comply with basic disease control rules such as access control, disinfection, and wearing protective clothing."

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