South Korea confirms ninth case of African swine fever

[SEOUL] South Korea confirmed its ninth case of African swine fever in a town near its border with North Korea, its agriculture ministry said on Friday

South Korea has been on the highest alert in the wake of its first outbreak of the deadly hog disease on Sept 17, ramping up disinfection measures, including a temporary nationwide ban on transport of hogs and related livestock.

South Korea is still looking into the source of the virus, but the cases have been found on hog farms near the border with North Korea, which reported an outbreak in late May

Till Thursday, nearly 29,000 hogs had been culled, with about 32,000 more expected to be slaughtered, according to the agriculture ministry. This accounts for 0.5 per cent of the total national herd of 12.3 million pigs, including animals already culled and those expected to be slaughtered.

REUTERS