Two more farms in Yecheon-gun hit by foot-and-mouth disease as county reimposes movement restrictions

Yecheon-gun in North Gyeongsang Province has activated its disaster safety response headquarters and launched emergency quarantine measures after foot-and-mouth disease antigens were detected at livestock farms in Gamcheon-myeon.

According to the county, 32 of 126 cattle at two Hanwoo farms in Gamcheon-myeon tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease antigens. The cases were identified during surveillance inspections targeting farms where non-structural protein antibodies had been detected.

The county had lifted movement restrictions on Aug. 27 after farms in the quarantine zone met the criteria for clearance testing, only for new cases to emerge shortly afterward.

Immediately after the positive results were confirmed, a first-response quarantine team was dispatched to the affected farms. Officials imposed movement controls and carried out disinfection of the farms, incoming and outgoing vehicles, and related facilities, and reissued movement restriction orders for a 3-kilometer quarantine zone around the outbreak sites.

Alongside this, six mobile checkpoints were set up around the affected area on an emergency basis.

"Given the gravity of the situation — with antigens detected again so soon after movement restrictions were lifted — we cannot afford to let our guard down," County Chief An Byung-yun said. "We will absolutely prevent further spread through rigorous containment measures, including thorough disinfection inside and outside the farms, strict access controls and comprehensive vaccination."