Korea tightens winter livestock disease defenses

Korea is bracing for a heightened risk of livestock disease outbreaks this winter, with bird flu cases overseas more than doubling this year and a new foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) strain emerging in neighboring countries.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Wednesday it will step up quarantine measures against bird flu, FMD and African swine fever (ASF) from October through February, focusing on high-risk areas and farms to prevent outbreaks and contain any that occur.

Bird flu cases among wild birds overseas totaled 2,957 from January through August, more than double the 1,432 cases recorded in the same period last year, according to the ministry. Neighboring China and Mongolia have seen outbreaks of a new FMD strain called the SAT1 serotype. ASF has also been confirmed to have a possible new transmission route, through feed made with plasma protein, in addition to wild boars.

To guard against bird flu, the government will introduce an early-warning system for migratory birds starting in September. The ministry will alert farms when signs of increased risk emerge, such as a rise in migratory bird populations near farms, allowing them to take preventive measures. Disinfection trucks and drones will also be deployed around migratory bird habitats, while 280 control zones will be designated to restrict livestock vehicles.

To keep the virus from spreading from migratory birds to farms, the government will build a three-stage quarantine system running from regional disinfection hubs to farm entrances to barns. Large egg-laying farms will be required to follow an additional, fourth stage, registering vehicles and visitors in advance.

The ministry also plans to pilot roughly 100 unmanned checkpoints with 24-hour CCTV monitoring and introduce a new digital system next year integrating access control, disinfection, record-keeping, early detection and smart diagnostics.

Higher-risk regions will get closer oversight. The 99 cities, counties and districts that have had a bird flu outbreak within the past 10 years will each get a customized quarantine plan tailored to local conditions, such as the distribution of livestock farms and the routes livestock vehicles typically take. If bird flu is detected, the government will immediately raise its crisis alert to the highest, “severe” level, activate a national situation room and issue a nationwide temporary movement-suspension order, mobilizing a governmentwide response.

For FMD, the government will step up pre-emptive vaccination against the new SAT1 strain and stockpile vaccine doses. High-risk farms and breeding stock along the border areas of Incheon, Gyeonggi and Gangwon completed pre-emptive vaccination on July 5, and vaccination will extend to 28 cities and counties in medium-risk areas by early 2027. The ministry plans to stockpile 10 million doses of vaccine this year and 32 million by next year.

For ASF, the government will focus on three main risk factors, including transmission from wild boars, contaminated plasma protein-based feed and the introduction of the virus from abroad.

In areas with concentrated ASF detections in wild boars, such as Hwacheon County and Chuncheon in Gangwon, the government will deploy thermal-imaging drones and vehicles, detection dogs and search teams to capture the animals.

Of the 24 ASF cases confirmed this year, 21 are believed to have been caused by plasma protein-derived feed, so the government will continue to monitor how that feed is manufactured. It also plans to test samples from slaughterhouses and blood storage facilities nationwide to block contaminated blood from being used as feed material.

“There may be limits to quarantine because of the emergence of new virus types, external factors like migratory birds and wild boars, and the government's limited quarantine personnel and resources,” Lee Dong-sik, director of the Agriculture Ministry's Animal Health Control Policy Bureau, said. “We ask the public to refrain from visiting migratory bird habitats and livestock farms before and after the Chuseok holiday, and to follow basic quarantine rules like disinfection.”

BY KIM KYUNG-HEE [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]