South Korea: (North Chungcheong) cattle, serotype O, WOAH

Date: Thu 11 May 2023
Source: Seoul Shinmun [in Korean, machine transl., edited]
https://m.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20230511500111


An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease [FMD] occurred on 3 Korean beef farms in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, putting the quarantine authorities on alert. It has been 4 years and 4 months since January 2019 when FMD was last confirmed in Korea.

According to North Chungcheong Province, 2 farms in Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si were tested positive for FMD on 10 May 2023. During the process of treating the livestock, the veterinarian checked the mouth and teats for suspected lesions of FMD and conducted a detailed examination. Subsequently, drooling symptoms were found in a Korean cattle farm 1.9 km [1.2 mi] away from these farms, and FMD finally confirmed as a result of a detailed examination.

Hanwoo [also Hanu, 'Korean Native' or 'Korean beef', a breed of small beef cattle native to Korea] farms are vaccinated against FMD around April and October every year. Two of the farms have recently been vaccinated, and the 3rd one was scheduled to be vaccinated on the same day. The FMD vaccine elicits antibodies 2 weeks after vaccination.

A provincial official said, "The FMD virus that occurred this time is of serotype O, which is fortunately the one present in Korea," and further stated, "The vaccination rate in the Chungbuk region is 95%." He added, "The investigation in the affected farm found that no one had traveled abroad in the last 3 years."

Quarantine authorities are also looking at the possibility of inflow from China, where FMD occurred in March [2023].

The province initiated emergency quarantine measures, including controlling the movement of people and livestock, by deploying an initial quarantine team to the farmhouse where the outbreak occurred. Hanwoo cattle from the farm where it occurred have been culled and being disposed of. There are 450 Korean beef cattle on all 3 farms. Artiodactylic livestock (cows, pigs, sheep, etc. with cloven/split hooves) located within 3 km [1.9 mi] of the farm where the outbreak occurred are restricted from moving for up to 3 weeks after the destruction of the animals in the 3 foci. There are 232 target farmhouses within the said zone, raising 40 048 cows, pigs, and goats.

In addition, a temporary suspension order was issued for 48 hours from 0:00 on the same day [11 May 2023] to 0:00 on 13 May 2023 for the workers and vehicles of artiodactylic farms and livestock related facilities across the country. A total of 56 disinfection vehicles, including quarantine vehicles, have been put in action in 7 cities and counties, including Daejeon, Sejong, Boeun, Goesan, Jincheon, and Jeungpyeong-gun in Chungcheongbuk-do, and Cheonan-si in Chungcheongnam-do. Emergency vaccinations and clinical tests for FMD are conducted at artiodactyl farms in 7 cities and counties adjacent to Cheongju. Telephone surveillance by local governments and the Livestock Hygiene Prevention and Control Headquarters will also be conducted for artiodactyl farms across the country.

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Communicated by:
ProMED

[According to the WRLFMD data, South Korea experienced in the past FMD serotypes O (2000, 2002, 2010-2011, 2014-2017, 2019) and A (2010, 2017-2018). The most recent event, during 2019, was caused by FMDV serotype O, topotype ME-SA, lineage Ind-2001, sub-lineage e (genotyping results and vaccine matching tests presented at https://www.wrlfmd.org/east-and-southeast-asia/south-korea#panel-2562. This strain has caused, recently, a major epizootic in Indonesia and is known to widely circulate elsewhere in south and south-east Asia, namely in FMD's pools 1 and 2 countries. The situation in the said pools has been attended in https://www.fao.org/3/cc4292en/cc4292en.pdf.

Korea imports large quantities of meat. Around half of the sales volume of meat consists of pork, followed by poultry, beef and veal.

In 2010, S. Korea experienced a major FMD epizootic, caused by 2 virus strains, of serotypes A and O, seriously affecting the pig and cattle industries. This led the authorities to undertake upgrading Korea's animal health control system, improving the infrastructure and encouraging research, including local production of FMD vaccines.

Information about the FMD situation in North Korea is rather scarce. - Mod.AS