A quarantine official prepares to cull ducks from a poultry farm in Yeongam, 308 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 5, 2020, after it reported a highly pathogenic avian influenza case. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Avian influenza (AI) is spreading across the country as the coronavirus continues to rage on, taking a severe toll on public servants in charge of quarantine and burial.
AI outbreak was confirmed at a duck farm in Yeongam County, South Jeolla Province on Dec. 5. Now, all poultry within a 3-kilometer radius are being culled.
Some 150 personnel from public agencies and private subcontractors have been deployed to take care of some 10 farms in the area, housing at least 493,000 animals.
South Gyeongsang Province also saw an AI outbreak at an egg farm in Sangju on Dec. 2, and proceeded with a cull that lasted until Dec. 6.
Some 185 public servants and 200 personnel from the private sector were deployed to cull 559,000 chickens and quails.
Culling animals poses an extreme stress to all participants.
Even if professional subcontractors are the ones doing the actual culling, public servants are required to stay in the field for supervision, bringing them unimaginable stress and mental shock.
Once they enter the field, they are not allowed to leave the area for two or three days since they might be carrying the virus.
Quarantine personnel are required to rinse themselves with disinfectants, staying indoors as they put up with food as little as a piece of bread.
Public servants are also charged with the task of operating checkpoints and disinfectant facilities.
Some 1,000 personnel from a public agency have been deployed to run checkpoints in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, where six people take shifts at each checkpoint as they struggle with a poor heating system.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
