'Highly pathogenic AI outbreak' Yeongam County, all-out efforts to prevent spread

(Yeongam=Yonhap News) Reporter Jo Geun-young = On the 10th, Yeongam County in Jeonnam Province announced that it has entered into full-scale response to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI). Highly pathogenic AI occurred at a meat duck farm located in Yeongam County the previous day. The county is following the quarantine guidelines and emergency action instructions from the Central AI Incident Management Headquarters, deploying an initial response team to the farm to implement measures such as access control, culling, and epidemiological investigation. All the farmed animals at the affected farm were urgently culled, and preventive culling was also carried out for 167,500 birds at two nearby farms. A complete movement restriction has been ordered for 103 poultry farms within a 10 km radius, and four control posts have been set up at the affected farm and on major roads. Disinfection vehicles have been deployed to intensively disinfect the surrounding areas and access routes of the farm to prevent further spread. Yeongam County Mayor Woo Seung-hee visited the AI quarantine control post on the same day to check the situation and urged the post staff to strictly control the entry and exit of vehicles and people inside and outside the farm. He also appealed to the farming households to comply with the AI prevention guidelines, including maintaining records of people and vehicles entering and exiting the farm, and thoroughly disinfecting livestock buildings and machinery. Yeongam County Mayor Woo Seung-hee emphasized, "All county residents, including farmers, should strictly follow the prevention guidelines to stop the spread of the disease and return to a clean area from avian influenza as soon as possible." chogy@yna.co.kr