SEJONG– South Korea’s agricultural ministry said Tuesday no additional case of African swine fever (ASF) has been found in the country since Sunday when a pig farm reported the first infection of the animal disease in three months.
The pig farm in Goseong, 466 kilometers northeast of Seoul, reported the outbreak on Sunday.
A total of 88 neighboring farms have been tested negative for the disease so far, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs.
Local authorities plan to complete testing 223 farms from Gangwon Province by the end of this week.
ASF does not affect humans but is deadly to pigs. There is currently no vaccine or cure for the disease.
The previous farm-related ASF case was reported at a farm in Gangwon Province on May 5.
The fatal animal disease earlier dealt a harsh blow to the local pig industry in 2019, when it infected 14 farms. More than 150,000 pigs were culled that year.
Two more farms also reported ASF cases last year, although it did not spread nationwide.
South Korea has been warning of potential outbreaks of ASF at local farms, as wild boars born over the spring season have expanded their activities to a wider area.
The country already reported infections among wild boars from Gangwon and Gyeonggi provinces this month.
Source: Yonhap News Agency