#19,042
Two days ago, in South Korea: MAFRA Warns on Risks From HPAI, ASF & FMD During Upcoming Lunar New Year, we looked at concerns over South Korea's recent spike in livestock diseases prior to the Lunar New Year, including 4 outbreaks of ASF in January.
While South Korea only reported 6 outbreaks of ASF in all of 2025, over the past 2 days 3 more outbreaks have been reported, making 7 reported in just over 2 weeks time.
Although the number of farms (and pigs) affected remains small, this represents a worrisome uptick in reports. Given the explosive nature of past outbreaks, MAFRA is pulling out all of the stops in an attempt to nip this one in the bud.
First, the (translated) announcement from MAFA, after which I'll have a bit more.
Additional African swine fever cases reported in Changnyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do; enhanced quarantine measures implemented.2026.02.04 16:55:46 Foot-and-Mouth Disease Prevention Division, Quarantine Policy Bureau
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for African Swine Fever ( Chief: Song Mei-ryeong , Minister of Agriculture , Food and Rural Affairs , hereinafter referred to as the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters) held a meeting of relevant ministries and local governments on Wednesday, February 4th , to review the outbreak situation and quarantine measures following the confirmation of African swine fever (ASF) at a pig farm (raising 2,400 pigs) in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do .
1. Situation
This outbreak in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, occurred on February 3 ( Tuesday ) following a report of pig deaths. A detailed examination was conducted , and the positive result for African swine fever was confirmed on February 4 ( Wednesday ) . This is the seventh confirmed case nationwide this year .* Farm occurrences in 2025 (6 cases ): Gyeonggi ① Yangju (1.20, 50th ) , ② Yangju (1.28, 51st ) , ③ Yangju (3.16, 52nd ) , ④ Paju (7.16, 53rd ), ⑤ Yeoncheon (9.14, 54th ) , Chungnam ⑥ Dangjin (11.24, 55th )
** Farm outbreaks in 2026 (7 cases ): Gangwon ① Gangneung (1.16, 56th ) , Gyeonggi ② Anseong (1.23, 57th ) , Pocheon (1.24, 58th ) , Jeollanam-do ④ Yeonggwang ( 1.26, 59th ) , Jeollabuk-do ⑤ Gochang (2.1, 60th ) , Chungcheongnam-do ⑥ Boryeong (2.3, 61st ) , Gyeongsangnam-do ⑦ Changnyeong (2.3, 62nd )
2. Quarantine measures for farms where the outbreak occurred
As African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters immediately dispatched an initial quarantine team and an epidemiological investigation team to the site to control entry of outsiders and vehicles into the farm , and to prevent further spread, 2,400 pigs at the outbreak farm were culled and emergency quarantine measures such as disinfection and epidemiological investigation are being implemented .
Second , a temporary standstill order was issued for workers and vehicles at livestock facilities such as pig farms , slaughterhouses , and feed factories nationwide for 24 hours from 2:30 PM on Wednesday , February 4 , 2026 to 2:30 PM on Thursday, February 5 , and compliance is being monitored .
Third , in order to block the spread of the virus within the outbreak area, we are mobilizing all 63 available disinfection resources , including wide-area disinfection equipment and quarantine vehicles, to intensively disinfect pig farms (No. 303) and surrounding roads in Changnyeong , Gyeongsangnam - do and eight adjacent cities and counties ( Hapcheon , Uiryeong , Haman , Changwon , and Miryang in Gyeongsangnam-do; Cheongdo and Goryeong in Gyeongsangbuk-do ; and Dalseong in Daegu ) . In addition , a central mobile quarantine organization consisting of three people , one from the Ministry of Agriculture , Food and Rural Affairs and two from the Quarantine Headquarters, has been dispatched to the outbreak city or county to comprehensively manage the on-site situation, including culling, burial, and disposal of residue .
* Available resources : 41 quarantine vehicles from the Joint Disinfection Team , 14 quarantine vehicles owned by local governments , and 8 vehicles leased by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.
Fourth , urgent detailed inspections are being conducted on farm No. 14 within a 10km quarantine zone around the outbreak farm and pig farm No. 148 with an epidemiological relationship with the outbreak farm , clinical examinations are being conducted on farm No. 919 with an epidemiological relationship with the outbreak farm , and cleaning and disinfection are being conducted on 15 vehicles .
3. Additional measures to strengthen quarantine management against ASF
We will inspect the on-site implementation status of the ASF quarantine management reinforcement measures announced and implemented in the revised version and strengthen their effectiveness , and strengthen the following additional quarantine measures for people , vehicles , livestock , and goods to prevent further outbreaks of ASF .
First , for pig farm workers, in preparation for the Chuseok holiday, when there is a lot of human interaction, gatherings ( events ) and the import and storage of illegal livestock products will be prohibited , and quarantine education and publicity by nationality will continue to be promoted by understanding the status of farm workers .
Second , in order to block the illegal distribution and trading of illegal livestock products ( beef , pork, etc. ) through domestic and international delivery services , we will cooperate with relevant organizations and also conduct monitoring and inspections of illegal livestock products traded online , etc.
Third , environmental inspections will be conducted on imported supplies ( purchased online ) used inside livestock houses, such as automatic waterers and feeders, and on items stored by importers of foreign equipment. For pig farms , quarantine management will be strengthened to ensure that such items are disinfected before entering the livestock house .
Fourth , for slaughterhouses with a high risk of cross-contamination due to the high number of livestock , people , and vehicles entering and leaving, environmental inspections will be strengthened . In particular , livestock transport vehicles will be prohibited from transshipping in places without separate disinfection facilities, and if violations such as livestock vehicles not being equipped with GPS are confirmed, strong measures such as punishment will be taken .
Fifth , we plan to take action by conducting additional investigations and tests on wild birds , feed from outbreak farms , and groundwater that are at risk of contamination based on comprehensive inspections of feed , additives, and raw materials , environmental inspections of feed companies, and epidemiological investigations, to identify the cause of the inflow .
Lastly, in order to protect a large number of good farmers, there are many cases where basic quarantine rules are not followed at outbreak farms. Therefore, if violations of quarantine rules are confirmed, we plan to take strict measures such as reducing the compensation for culling .
4. Requests
The mobile quarantine policy director emphasized, “ Including Changnyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do, there have already been seven sporadic outbreaks of African swine fever across the country in January alone, ” and “ Except for Pocheon, this is a new region where there were no farm outbreaks or wild boars detected , so the risk of African swine fever outbreak is nationwide , and the current quarantine situation is very serious . ”* By year : ('19) 14 cases → ('20) 2 → ('21) 5 → ('22) 7 → ('23) 10 → ('24) 11 → ('25) 6 → ('26) 7Additionally, the government said , “ We will keep in mind all possibilities, such as illegal livestock products and goods possessed by farm workers , and mobilize all available means to block the virus from entering farms, ” and requested, “ We ask local governments to thoroughly disinfect and control access to all pig farms, including livestock products , goods , and vehicles related to pig farms and workers . ”
In particular, “ In order to prevent delays in reporting African swine fever, please report without delay when suspicious symptoms occur so that there are no disadvantages in culling compensation, ” and “ We will conduct a detailed epidemiological investigation on farms suspected of delaying reporting livestock deaths among recently reported farms , and if it is confirmed that the delay in reporting was the cause of the spread of African swine fever , we will respond strongly, including reducing the culling compensation and seeking compensation . ”
In addition , he requested, “ All pig farms should thoroughly disinfect all people , equipment , and goods entering the farm with the mindset that they are protecting their own farm , and follow basic quarantine rules such as washing hands , changing protective clothing and boots , and disinfecting when entering and exiting the barn , as well as thoroughly conduct clinical observations of the pigs raised every day . ”
5. Pork supply and demand
The number of pigs culled due to this outbreak of African swine fever is 2,400 , which is less than 0.02% of the total number of pigs raised (11.754 million ) , and the impact on the domestic pork supply and demand is minimal . However , with the Lunar New Year holiday just two weeks away , the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters plans to continue to closely monitor the supply and demand situation and manage the livestock product supply and demand without any gaps .
African Swine Fever (ASF) doesn't affect human health directly, but it reportedly killed somewhere around 1/3rd of the world's swine during the last decade - mostly in Asia and Eastern Europe - which often leads to steep economic losses and food insecurity.
While African Swine Fever can be transmitted directly from pig-to-pig, and can be carried by certain types of ticks, in many cases the virus has been spread by the movement of contaminated food products, animal feed or bedding, or other products to uninfected regions.
Between 2018-2019, China witnessed the worst ASF outbreak on record, losing an estimated 150-200 million pigs to the disease (see African Swine Fever In China: Epizootic or An EpicZootic?), although the exact number remains a closely held secret.
For now North American remains free from the ASF virus, but the more inroads it makes around the globe, the more opportunities it will have to jump into our backyard (see USDA's A qualitative assessment of the likelihood of ASF virus entry to the United States. March 2019).
