The virus has been detected in more than 30 tomato farms across four regions
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) has been detected in dozens of tomato farms across Korea, forcing authorities to implement containment measures.
According to a report from Yonhap News, 39 tomato farms in the Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Gyeongnam, and Busan regions have tested positive so far,
Korea’s Rural Development Administration (RDA) met with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency on 9 November to discuss a response and subsequently announced quarantine measures for the affected areas.
As part of the measures, authorities will quarantine contaminated farms, destroy all plant products and growing media, and disinfect the interiors and exteriors of affected facilities. The removal of plants, work tools, and distribution boxes will all be prohibited and worker access will be controlled.
Authorities will determine replanting eligibility through residual testing and said they would support quarantine and replanting costs.
Inspections are conducted four weeks after disinfection is completed for soil-based farms and two weeks after for hydroponic farms. However, if the virus is detected in hydroponic farms, a re-examination is conducted one week after re-disinfection to make a final determination. Affected farms are subject to follow-up investigation for three years.
The Rural Development Administration said it plans to work with provincial and municipal agricultural research institutes and related agencies and establish local task forces to implement the quarantine measures and manage the outbreak. It will also conduct an epidemiological investigation into the outbreak.
ToBRFV is highly transmissible and can spread through human contact, contaminated equipment, clothing, and soil and plant material. Authorities urged the industry to strictly follow disease-prevention guidelines, and growers to restrict access to greenhouses and take precautions to prevent the virus from spreading.
“We will do our utmost to swiftly implement containment measures and prevent further spread of the virus,” RDA Deputy Administrator Kim Sang-kyung said in a report from The Korea News Plus.
“We also urge farmers to follow preventive measures, including disinfecting farming tools, and promptly report any suspicious symptoms to their nearest agricultural technology centre.”
