SEOUL — An additional batch of vaccine for lumpy skin disease (LSD) has arrived in South Korea.
According to a new release by Yonhap News Agency, The government is targeting the completion of its nationwide inoculation campaign against the disease by early November.
During a visit to a logistics center at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, Agricultural Minister Chung Hwang-keun emphasized the significance of prompt vaccine distribution. "Administering vaccines is the most important step when it comes to preventing the spread of LDS," he said. "Each regional government should take action to promptly distribute the vaccine to farms so that they can be administered."
As of Saturday morning, health authorities have inoculated 357,000 out of 438,000 cows that were subject to emergency vaccination, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Since the first outbreak of LSD in the country last week, 55 cases have been confirmed nationwide, including three new cases reported on Saturday. Investigations are also underway for four suspected cases.
The total number of cattle culled to date in efforts to control the disease stands at 3,758. The Ministry of Agriculture is working to further extend its emergency vaccination campaign by acquiring more vaccines from abroad. Concurrently, the interior ministry has committed to oversee the vaccination program based on plans formulated by local governments.
Despite the ongoing vaccination effort, authorities anticipate that the number of LSD cases will continue to rise in the near term. This is due to the approximately three-week period needed for vaccinated cattle to develop protective antibodies against the disease.
LSD is a highly infectious disease affecting cattle and buffalo. It causes symptoms such as skin lesions, fever, and loss of appetite and can result in reduced milk production and death. The disease is not transmissible to humans and spreads among cattle through mosquitoes and other blood-feeding insects.
In a separate incident, a cow that had escaped from a farm in Imsil, located 218 kilometers south of Seoul, while awaiting vaccination, has been safely returned. Authorities confirmed that the animal was not infected with LSD.