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Health workers pour calcium oxide over a dead wild boar infected with African Swine Fever in this April 2020 photo. Korea Times file |
By Ko Dong-hwan
The authorities are rushing to prevent the spread of animal-borne diseases ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, with workers carrying out fumigation and repairs around pig and poultry farms in preparation for the increased movement of people visiting their families in different parts of the country.
Animal-to-animal diseases spread by highly contagious pathogens, such as avian influenza from migratory birds and African Swine Fever (ASF) among wild boars, have been threatening domestic farms ― with ASF concentrated within the inter-Korean border regions.
Reports of bird flu nationwide reached 163 from 2020 to 2021, and there have been 103 this year alone. The two-year figure is also a 191 percent jump from 2017.
Reports of ASF have also increased each month since October last year, from 22 to 56 in November, 79 in December and 96 in January. This month has already seen 31 cases as of Feb. 9, bringing the total since the first case was detected in 2020 to over 1,000. The disease has been infecting mostly farms in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and Gangwon's provincial counties of Yeoncheon, Cheorwon and Hwacheon.
Countermeasures are being handled jointly by the country's ministries of environment and agriculture, food and rural affairs.
The authorities designated Feb. 10 to 15 ― with the holiday period from the 11th to 14th ― as "national fumigation days" to disinfect animal pens, farm vehicles, community roads, migratory bird reserves on streams and ponds, as well as areas where cases of ASF were previously reported. As many as 1,000 fumigation trucks have been prepped for deployment by local government offices, agricultural cooperatives and military bases.
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A pig farm in Sari village in North Chungcheong Province's Goesan County is surrounded by fencing to keep wild boars out and prevent the spread of African Swine Fever in this May 2019 photo. Korea Times file |
Over 190,000 poultry and pig farms, and 8,600 facilities such as slaughterhouses and feed factories have been ordered to fumigate inside and outside, and to disinfect equipment. Over 61,000 farm trucks are also required to be taken to 220 facilities nationwide to be disinfected.
Local government offices have also sent 4,500 instructors to farms nationwide with checklists and information leaflets ― one of which is titled "Outside farms is biohazardous!" The in-person education shows farm workers how to conduct additional fumigation at around 2 p.m. to -3 p.m. when the measure has been proven to be most effective; to keep replenishing supplies such as calcium oxide to cover roads near farms; to kill vermin; to ban entry to outside visitors; and to keep fencing between wildlife and farm pens secure. They were also advised to disinfect trucks on and off the farms carrying poultry, eggs and animal feed during the holiday period.
Increased personnel for the holiday period include 87 inspectors to check for damage to an aggregate 620 kilometers of fencing in nine inter-Korean border regions from Paju to Gangwon's Goseong County ― and 130 watchmen to prevent the illegal hunting of possibly infected wild animals.
The special campaign this week also intends to inform travelers what not to do while visiting the countryside. They are advised to distance themselves from any animal farm after visiting their ancestral graves ― a custom many people follow during the holiday. Throwing away edible crumbs during a ritual in front of ancestral graves ― also a traditional practice ― is also banned because of the possibility they may attract infected wild boars.
Officials from the ministries have particularly highlighted the importance for all relevant farms in the country to get rid of possible pathogens carrying the diseases, and asked local farmers and officials to "watch for outside visitors."
The pathogen causing of ASF, which is 100-percent fatal, survive for 11 days in excrement and even up to 1,000 days in frozen meat. Animals with the disease bleed from the nose, mouth and anus, and their abdomens become reddened and extended.