Growing gaps in biosecurity for the goat industry, Gyeonggi Province to implement disease inspections

(Uijeongbu=Yonhap News) Reporter Woo Young-sik = The Gyeonggi-do Northern Animal Hygiene Testing Laboratory announced on the 29th that it will conduct disease screenings on goat farms to prevent the spread of zoonotic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and ensure food distribution safety. Unlike cattle, goats are excluded from the mandatory pre-screening requirements for major zoonotic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and brucellosis between farms and before shipment to livestock markets, requiring special attention to ensure food safety. The domestic goat industry has been growing rapidly recently. As of August, the number of goats raised nationwide exceeded 500,000. In addition, imports of foreign goat meat have been increasing significantly every year, from 1,883 tons in 2021 to 3,322 tons in 2022 and 6,179 tons last year. However, the disease diagnosis system for goats is insufficient, so there is a risk of transmitting bacterial diseases such as ...