Hwasun County Strengthens Prevention of Waterborne and Foodborne Infectious Diseases Ahead of Chuseok Holiday

Extra Caution Needed for Food Safety and Personal Hygiene

Hwasun County announced that, in preparation for the Chuseok holiday and to prevent waterborne and foodborne infectious diseases, it will strengthen its emergency quarantine system until the 30th of this month.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the total number of outbreaks of waterborne and foodborne infectious diseases in 2025 was 625 cases. This represents a 19.1% increase compared to the average of 525 cases over the past four years (2021–2024). During the same period, the number of reported cases reached 13,935, which is 38.7% higher than the four-year average of 10,046, indicating the need for extra caution.

Aerial View of Hwasun County Office

Waterborne and foodborne infectious diseases are transmitted through the consumption of contaminated water or food and mainly cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Notable examples include notifiable infectious diseases of the second degree, such as typhoid fever, bacillary dysentery, and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection, as well as fourth-degree infectious diseases including salmonellosis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection, and Campylobacter infection.

In particular, during the Chuseok holiday, the risk of infectious diseases can increase as many people prepare and eat food together or store cooked food for extended periods. Therefore, special attention must be paid to food management and personal hygiene.

Key preventive measures include: ▲ washing hands with soap under running water for more than 30 seconds ▲ drinking safe water (such as bottled or boiled water) ▲ thoroughly cooking food (heating at 85°C or higher for at least one minute) ▲ preparing food hygienically (using disinfected knives and cutting boards and separating cutting boards by type of food, such as fish, meat, and vegetables) ▲ avoiding food preparation if there are wounds on the hands ▲ discarding food that has been in contact with contaminated water or has not been properly refrigerated (kept at a safe temperature for over four hours).

Park Mira, Director of the Hwasun County Health Center, said, "To prevent infectious diseases, it is important to strictly observe personal and food hygiene rules."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.