10th Case of African Swine Fever Confirmed in South Korea - Reports

SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd October, 2019) The number of cases of African swine fever registered in South Korea in the past two weeks has reached 10, local media report.

The 10th case was confirmed on Tuesday at a pig farm in Paju, a city close to the border with North Korea and the same place where the very first case of African swine fever was registered in South Korea about two weeks ago, the South Korean Arirang tv said.

A 48-hour standstill has been issued for pigs in the provinces of Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do, as well as in the Incheon metropolitan area.

Over 110,000 pigs, which is almost 1% of all pigs in South Korea, are expected to be culled in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

North Korea reported the first outbreak of African swine fever to the World Organization for Animal Health in May. The outbreak occurred at North Korea's border with China.

African swine fever (ASF) is caused by a virus of the same name, which leads to hemorrhagic fever. There is currently no vaccine against the virus, which affects domestic pigs, as well as other pig family species, and has very high mortality rates. African swine fever is not dangerous to humans.