Funding for this research was provided by:
National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016R1D1A1B02015366)
Article History
Received: 11 April 2019
Accepted: 25 July 2019
First Online: 29 July 2019
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: This study, conducted from 2014 to 2018, was beyond the purview of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Kyungpook National University (KNU), as the IACUC at KNU only evaluates those involving laboratory animals maintained in indoor facilities and does not regulate research involving outdoor animals. However, under the regulatory “Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Disease (Amendment Act 2016)” national and local veterinary institutes in Korea regularly conduct control measures in accordance with annual infectious animal disease programs. Blood samples were collected from pigs by practicing veterinarians at local, government-run veterinary institutes during monitoring, surveillance, treatment, or regular check-ups after receipt of verbal consent from pig owners, in accordance with the administrative rules of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea.
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.