By Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s agricultural authorities announced Saturday that they have vaccinated close to 82 percent of cattle that were required to receive emergency inoculation due to a rise in lumpy skin disease (LSD) cases throughout the country.
As of Saturday morning, health officials had administered the vaccine to 357,000 of the 438,000 cows under the emergency inoculation program, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Since the first-ever outbreak of the viral infection last week, the country has confirmed 52 LSD cases thus far, including five from the day prior. Additionally, six suspected cases are being investigated.
The number of cattle culled so far came to 3,624.
An official administers a vaccine for lumpy skin disease to cattle at a farm in the city of Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, on Oct. 23, 2023. (Yonhap)
The agriculture ministry has been working to expand its emergency vaccination campaign by obtaining more vaccines from abroad, and the interior ministry has vowed to manage the overall vaccination program according to plans developed by each local government.
South Korea plans to finish the vaccination program by early November, although authorities believe the number of cases will go up in the meantime, as it takes around three weeks for vaccinated cattle to develop protective antibodies against the disease.
LSD, which does not affect humans, is a highly infectious disease that causes skin lesions, fever and loss of appetite, often leading to a decrease in milk production and even death. It affects cattle and buffalo via mosquitoes and other blood-feeding insects.
Meanwhile, a cow escaped from a farm in Imsil, 218 kilometers south of Seoul, the previous day while awaiting inoculation. Authorities said it safely returned to the farm and was not infected with the disease.
This photo provided by a reader shows a cow that escaped from a farm in Imsil, 218 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 27, 2023, as it was waiting to be vaccinated against lumpy skin disease. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
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