Agriculture ministry moves lumpy skin disease down to Tier 2

The agriculture ministry said Tuesday it will reclassify lumpy skin disease as a Tier 2 livestock disease, dropping it from the Tier 1 category that requires herds to be culled.

Under the revision, which takes effect Oct. 1, infected cattle will be subject to selective disposal rather than mandatory culling, and their farms will no longer be covered by temporary standstills. Movement restrictions will apply only where outbreaks and epidemiological links are confirmed.

The ministry attributed the downgrade to expert assessments that the disease has a low fatality rate, can be blocked through vaccination and vector control, and is unlikely to become endemic given seasonal factors.

Lumpy skin disease spreads through biting insects such as midges and mosquitoes, causing nodules on the skin and mucous membranes of cattle, slashing milk production, damaging hides and causing miscarriages. South Korea recorded its first outbreak in 2023, with 107 cases that year and 24 in 2024. No cases have been reported since 2025.

The revision also widens the pool of people eligible to serve as livestock quarantine officers: those qualified as animal health technicians under the Veterinarians Act may now be appointed. The enforcement rules also raise the fine for failing to report the employment of foreign workers or to carry out preventive education and disinfection to 10 million won ($7,396) from 5 million won.

"This revision is a reasonable adjustment of the disease's grade in light of its risk level, and it is expected to raise the efficiency of quarantine management in the field," said Lee Dong-sik, director-general of the ministry's quarantine policy bureau. "It will also strengthen preventive quarantine by establishing management systems for the private quarantine industry, including livestock waste disposal businesses, and for pathogens of high-risk livestock diseases."