Aquatic animal diseases can impact aquaculture, fisheries and the environment, threatening the survival of affected animals. These diseases can spread globally through international trade, posing a major threat to food security in many countries. One way to minimize this threat is implementing a state-driven disease management system consistent with the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) standards.
South Korea is an example. The country has established a systematic aquatic organism disease control system under its Aquatic Organism Disease Control Act enacted in 2008, and supported by trained personnel and financial resources.
Since 2019, the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service (NFQS) has progressively declared the country free from aquatic animal diseases. The initiative aims to prevent both domestic spread and cross-border transmission of diseases, in line with international standards set out in Chapter 1.4 of the Aquatic Code.
South Korea operates an early detection system that fulfils the requirements specified in Article 1.4.7 of the aquatic animal health code (Aquatic Code). Its main contents are as follows:
- Aqua-farmers and others involved in aquaculture have a legal obligation to immediately report any signs of disease in aquatic organisms to the competent authority.
- The government provides mandatory training to those involved in aquaculture on a regular basis to raise awareness of aquatic organism diseases.
- Disease surveillance at aqua-farms is conducted by technically trained experts, and all surveillance data are uploaded and maintained in the national integrated network for aquatic organism disease control.
- Disease identification for clinically infected animals or those sampled during surveillance follows the manual of diagnostic tests for aquatic animals (Aquatic Manual).
- In the event of an aquatic animal disease outbreak, organized disease control measures are implemented to prevent its spread.
- The country quarantines imported aquatic animals to prevent the introduction of exotic diseases.
Inspectors in South Korea conduct biannual farm visits, interviews, and surveys to monitor disease occurrence, collecting samples for lab testing. With over 80 aquaculture species, about 15,000 general surveillance checks are carried out annually. Additionally, farms that raise susceptible species designated by WOAH (seven fish, six shellfish, three crustacean and one amphibian species) are subject to 600 targeted surveillance checks each year.
Having met the basic biosecurity conditions and based on the results of targeted surveillance activities over the past 15 years, South Korea self-declared its entire territory free from:
- Infectious salmon anemia in 2019
- Infection with Gyrodactylus salaris in 2020
- Infection with abalone herpesvirus in 2021
- Infection with infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus in 2022
- Infection with salmonid alphavirus in 2023
- Infection with yellowhead virus genotype 1 in 2024.
“These results demonstrate transparency in disease occurrence information, boost animal and public health globally, and enhance trust with fishery trading partners and the international community,” WOAH said.
For aquatic animal diseases, the disease-free status of a country, a zone or a compartment is self-declared. While some members declare themselves free from certain aquatic diseases, South Korea undergoes the official administrative and technical screening procedure by WOAH to have its self-declaration published on the WOAH website. This publication objectively demonstrates the country’s status of disease freedom.
To maintain its disease-free status for the six aforementioned disease types, South Korea continues its disease surveillance activities and upholds its basic biosecurity conditions in accordance with WOAH standards. The country plans to expand its status of disease freedom to a total of ten types of diseases by 2028, promoting the importance of aquatic organism disease control worldwide.
