S. Korea reports additional African swine fever case in one month

SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea reported another African swine fever case after a one-month hiatus on Monday, and issued a standstill order on pig farms and related facilities in the country's northern regions, the agriculture ministry said.

The animal disease was found at a pig farm in the city of Pocheon, 41 kilometers northeast of Seoul, which raised 12,842 pigs, after 50 of the pigs died last week and an in-depth inspection was conducted, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

It marked the fifth ASF case in the country so far this year, with the last case being reported in the northern county of Yangyang in mid-February.

The authorities are culling pigs raised there as a preventive step and issued a 48-hour standstill order in the western city of Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, and the northern part of Gangwon Province to be effective through 5 a.m. Wednesday, it added.

They will also carry out inspections into adjacent and other related farms and facilities.

There are 80 pig farms within a 10-km radius of the affected farm, which raise about more than 170,000 pigs combined, according to the ministry.

ASF does not affect humans but is deadly to pigs. There is currently no vaccine or cure for the disease.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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