Highly pathogenic AI confirmed at Yeongam farm … 500,000 ducks and chickens eliminated (total)

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Highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) was confirmed at a duck fattening farm in Sijong-myeon, Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do, and quarantine authorities took an emergency.

The 10 km radius of this farm is an area where 1.7 million chickens and ducks are raised on 44 poultry farms, so there is great concern about the spread of AI.

Jeonnam-do announced on day 5 that it was confirmed as highly pathogenic AI type H5N8 as a result of a close examination of samples collected from Yeongam fattening duck farm, which received a report of suspected highly pathogenic AI.

H5 type AI antigen was detected during inspection at Jeonnam Animal Health Laboratory prior to slaughter and shipment of ducks from this farm.

This year’s poultry farm is the third time highly pathogenic AI has appeared after a duck meat farm in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk, last month, and a laying hen farm in Sangju, Gyeongbuk, earlier this month.

The highly pathogenic AI outbreak in Jeollanam-do has been 3 years since 810,000 died in 11 cases from December 2017 to January 2018.

The quarantine authorities will control access to the farm and will kill 9,800 raised ducks, and will also preemptively kill 493,000 ducks on 10 farms within a 3 km radius.

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There is no poultry farm within a 500m radius of this farm, but within a radius of 500m to 3km, 10 farms (4 chickens, 6 ducks) and 492,000 (359,000 chickens and 133,000 ducks) are raised.

It is a densely concentrated area of ​​poultry farms in the province, with 1,722,000 animals concentrated in 44 farms in 3-10 km.

Jeonnam-do controlled access to the farm, installed a movement control station at the entrance to the village, and initiated detailed surveillance and epidemiological investigations in the surrounding farms.

In addition, a 10 km radius around the farm was established as a quarantine area and an order was issued to restrict movement to poultry farms in the province for the next 30 days.

In the quarantine area, 26 mobile checkpoints will be set up in three cities and counties of Yeongam, Naju and Muan.

All poultry farms, feed mills and slaughterhouses in the Jeollanam-do region and livestock facilities and livestock vehicles also received a 48-hour restraining order.

The plan is to strengthen farm surveillance and carry out a full-time inspection on 60 farms (7 bell ducks and 53 meat ducks) affiliated with the same farm.

An official from Jeonnam province said: “The first source of infection has not yet been identified and there are still no reports of suspicion or abnormal symptoms on other farms.”

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