The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that they held the ‘2nd Zoonotic Disease Countermeasure Committee of 2025’ on December 17th with related ministries and private experts. This meeting was the first jointly chaired by Choi Jeong-rok, head of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, and Lim Seung-kwan, head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, who agreed to operate a practical and effective ‘One-Team’ cooperation system.
The committee selected Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) as the main topic and discussed management and response measures through inter-ministerial cooperation. SFTS is a tick-borne zoonotic disease that shows gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding tendencies when infected, with a high fatality rate. In June this year, a second cluster infection case of SFTS occurred in the Chungbuk region, requiring systematic management and multifaceted responses.
The Quarantine Agency, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, has been operating a dedicated organization since July 2024 to establish a response system for zoonotic diseases at the animal stage and is promoting a project to prepare a national surveillance program for five zoonotic diseases. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency conducted a joint epidemiological investigation with related ministries on the SFTS case in the Chungbuk region and plans to prepare a multi-ministerial SFTS joint epidemiological investigation manual.
In addition to SFTS, measures to strengthen the safety net for zoonotic diseases related to pets were also discussed. Regarding canine brucellosis, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs shared proactive management measures such as mandatory testing at the distribution stage of pets, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency conducted public awareness campaigns by producing and distributing prevention guidelines for high-risk groups.