S.Korea reports 2nd confirmed case of African swine fever

Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-18 11:03:55|Editor: Wu Qin
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SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Wednesday reported its second confirmed case of African swine fever, a viral disease for pigs that has no vaccines nor cures found yet, according to the agriculture ministry.

It was confirmed at a pig farm in Yeoncheon, about 50 km away from Paju, where the first African swine fever case was confirmed Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Some 4,700 pigs at the Yeoncheon farm and a neighboring farm would be culled. About 8,500 pigs are being raised at other farms within a three km radius of where the second case was reported.

The two cases in Yeoncheon and Paju were not related epidemiologically. Quarantine checkpoints were set up near the affected farms to prevent the spread of the deadly pig disease.

Right after the first case of confirmation, the government issued a 48-hour standstill order to all pig farms, slaughter houses and feed factories nationwide in order to ban all pigs, relevant equipment and people from moving.

The government also banned pigs in the Gyeonggi province from moving into other regions for one week, while examining the possible symptoms of the African swine fever at all pig farms across the country.

The Yeoncheon county and the Paju city are located in the Gyeonggi province bordering the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The government said people can consume pork as the viral disease does not affect humans.

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