South Korea announces emergency vaccination of livestock against lumpy skin disease

The first outbreak of bovine lumpy skin disease was identified in South Korea on October 20, 2023. Since then, the number of farms affected by the infection has reached 51 (as of October 27, 2023). Earlier it was reported about the launch of an emergency vaccination program on farms located within a radius of 10–20 km from the outbreaks of the disease. To date, out of 253 thousand animals located in these zones, 217 thousand have been vaccinated.

Now the authorities plan to use 4 million doses of the vaccine to immunize the entire livestock in the country. The drugs will be imported from abroad from October 28 to October 31 and gradually distributed among farms, starting from the enterprises in which the outbreak was recorded, and further along the perimeter, with its gradual expansion.

Large producers immunize animals on their own, the publication writes. For farms with a livestock of less than 50 animals, teams of veterinarians work. Initially, specialists taking part in vaccination were prohibited from entering other farms for a week, so only veterinarians working in government agencies were involved in the work. However, due to a shortage of qualified personnel, veterinarians from private practices were also asked to join the program, subject to strict safety measures. In particular, they are prescribed a change of clothes upon entering the enterprise, disinfection of basic premises before and after visiting the farm (at least 2 times a day), a ban on contact with other members of veterinary teams, and prevention of blood-sucking insects from entering the cars in which veterinarians travel.