SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Monday reported its third confirmed case of African swine fever, a viral disease for pigs that has no vaccines nor cures found yet, according to the agriculture ministry.
The third case was confirmed at a pig farm in Gimpo, just 30 km west of the capital Seoul. Gimpo is located south of the Han River, which runs through the capital city.
The first confirmed case was found in Paju near the border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sept. 17, and the second one was reported in Yeoncheon, some 50 km away from Paju, the following day.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs designated six municipalities of Gyeonggi province, including Paju, Yeoncheon and Gimpo, as tightened controlled areas last week, but the third case was found in Gimpo.
A possibility remained open for additional cases of the highly contagious disease to be found, given the incubation period of up to 19 days.
The ministry reportedly culled about 15,000 pigs in Paju and Yeoncheon over the weekend. It was slaughtering pigs within a 3-km radius of the affected farms, larger than the required 0.5-km radius.
