Foot-and-mouth disease has occurred in Korea for the first time in nine months.
The Central Accident Management Headquarters for Foot-and-Mouth Disease said on the 31st that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed at a cattle farm in Ganghwa County, Incheon. Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious disease that infects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, and is one of the first-class livestock infectious diseases.
In line with the outbreak, the headquarters raised the alert level for Incheon and Gimpo, Gyeonggi, from "attention" to "serious." Other regions were raised to the "caution" level. To prevent the spread, it dispatched an initial quarantine team and an epidemiological investigation team to the farm to control access and is conducting an epidemiological investigation. The 246 cattle being raised at the farm where foot-and-mouth disease occurred will be culled in line with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
To block horizontal transmission between farms, the headquarters also issued a 48-hour temporary standstill order for workers and vehicles at cloven-hoofed animal farms and livestock-related facilities in Incheon and Gyeonggi. It is carrying out simultaneous disinfection and washing of facilities and vehicles. It will mobilize 39 available disinfection assets, including wide-area sprayers and quarantine vehicles, to disinfect cloven-hoofed animal farms in Incheon and Gimpo and nearby roads. It will conduct emergency vaccination and clinical examinations at 1,000 cloven-hoofed animal farms in Incheon and Gimpo, and local governments and the Livestock Health Control Association will conduct telephone surveillance targeting cloven-hoofed animal farms nationwide.
Foot-and-mouth disease occurred in Yeongam County, South Jeolla, on Mar. 13 last year and a total of 19 cases were reported through Apr. 13. The headquarters said, "The situation is grave, with foot-and-mouth disease occurring again this year following last year," and added, "To prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, we ask relevant agencies and local governments to devote their utmost efforts to swift culling, detailed testing and intensive disinfection." It also urged, "Please strictly follow basic quarantine rules, including disinfection inside and outside farms, disinfection when entering barns, and changing boots."