South Korea completes SAT1 foot-and-mouth vaccine rollout in border areas, targets 10 million doses by year-end

The government has completed vaccinations against the SAT1 strain of foot-and-mouth disease in border areas and plans to stockpile 10 million doses by year-end as a precaution against the strain spreading from China and Mongolia.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Monday it had finished vaccinating about 170,000 ruminants — including cattle and goats — in border regions against the SAT1 strain. The ministry plans to secure an additional 8.8 million doses by the end of the year, bringing total stockpiles to 10 million doses.

The SAT1 strain was first detected in China in March before spreading to Mongolia in May. The ministry had initially secured 1.2 million doses and launched preemptive vaccination campaigns targeting border areas and the west coast in anticipation of a possible domestic outbreak.

The latest round of vaccinations was carried out across 11 cities and counties in border regions of Incheon, Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province. Because SAT1 has never been detected in South Korea and no prior vaccination program existed, animals received two doses four weeks apart to ensure sufficient immunity.

The ministry also vaccinated more than 16,000 cloven-hoofed animals kept at livestock genetic resource protection facilities, including those under the National Institute of Animal Science. Post-vaccination monitoring found temporary fever and reduced milk production in some dairy cows, but all recovered fully. No adverse reactions were observed in Korean native cattle or goats.

In September, the government plans to administer the SAT1 vaccine alongside the regular nationwide rollout of type O and type A foot-and-mouth vaccines, covering about 770,000 ruminants across 22 cities and counties along the west coast. Second doses are to be completed by October, after which authorities will review whether to expand the vaccination area depending on the situation abroad.

To ease the burden on farmers, the window for claiming compensation for adverse reactions — including miscarriages and deaths — has been temporarily extended from two weeks to four weeks. The ministry also plans to conduct antibody testing and other monitoring of vaccinated livestock.

Lee Dong-sik, director general of the ministry's Animal Disease Control Bureau, said it was important not only for livestock industry workers but also for the general public to comply with quarantine and biosecurity rules, including the prohibition on illegally bringing in animal products. "Local governments, relevant agencies and livestock farmers must spare no effort in carrying out vaccinations and implementing on-farm biosecurity measures," he said.