▲ Second case of foot-and-mouth disease reported at a Hanwoo farm in Goyang
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) announced today (July 3) that foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed at one pig farm in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk, and five cattle farms within a 500-meter radius of the affected farm.
In response, the headquarters has raised the crisis alert level to 'Serious' for six neighboring cities and counties: Yecheon, Andong, Uiseong, Sangju, Mungyeong, Yeongju, and Danyang in North Chungcheong Province.
Following the detection of the FMD antigen during routine surveillance and testing at a slaughterhouse in Gyeongbuk on June 25, the headquarters conducted follow-up testing on 39 farms that had shipped pigs to the facility.
As a result, the pig farm in Yecheon, where the antigen was detected on June 28, initially tested negative for the FMD antigen but was found to have non-structural protein (NSP) antibodies the following day.
Subsequent intensive testing of the pig farm and nearby cattle farms confirmed that 14 pigs and 24 cattle across a total of 6 farms tested positive for the antigen.
The headquarters stated that since no animals showing clinical symptoms of FMD were identified during the intensive and clinical examinations, it plans to cull only the infected animals, taking into account the antibody positivity rate at the farm level.
The headquarters has dispatched initial response teams and epidemiological investigation teams to the affected farms to restrict the movement of outsiders, livestock, and vehicles, and to conduct epidemiological investigations.
A 48-hour standstill order has been issued, effective from today until 10:00 a.m. on July 5, for workers and vehicles at livestock-related facilities, including cloven-hoofed animal farms, slaughterhouses, and feed mills, in the affected and six neighboring cities and counties.
The authorities will conduct disinfection and cleaning of the relevant facilities and vehicles, and deploy central inspection teams—comprising officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency—to verify compliance with quarantine measures.
Intensive clinical surveillance will be conducted on 125 farms within a 3-kilometer radius of the affected farms. Additionally, wide-area sprayers and disinfection vehicles will be mobilized to intensively disinfect cloven-hoofed animal farms, such as those raising cattle and pigs, and surrounding roads in Yecheon-gun and the six neighboring cities and counties.
Furthermore, emergency vaccinations and clinical examinations will be carried out for 7,976 farms (housing 840,000 animals) by July 17, and telephone surveillance will be conducted for cloven-hoofed animal farms nationwide.
The headquarters urged, "Close cooperation from farmers is essential for quarantine measures, such as emergency vaccinations and intensive farm disinfection, to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease," adding, "Please strictly follow quarantine protocols, such as disinfecting the inside and outside of farms and changing boots when entering barns."
(Photo: Provided by Goyang City, Yonhap News)
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