A second case of African swine fever has been confirmed in a pig farm in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi-do province.
The disease does not pose a risk to humans, but it's fatal to pigs, so authorities are hard at work trying to stop it from spreading.
Our Kim Jae-hee has the latest.
Pigs at a second farm in South Korea were confirmed early on Wednesday to have African swine fever.
"The farm in Yeoncheon County is around 48 kilometers away from Paju, where the first case of African swine fever was confirmed on Tuesday."
The Agriculture Ministry has designated six cities and counties, including Paju, Yeoncheon, and Pocheon, as key management areas to prevent the spread of African swine fever.
The ministry will mobilize all disinfection vehicles and prevention teams to the six regions.
They have also extended the one-week ban on pork shipments from farms in those regions to three weeks.
"In any case of an outbreak of disease, the priority is to block the virus from spreading from the farm that it was detected in. Our main goal is to be as fast as possible to prevent the disease from spreading."
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon also visited breeding farms and disinfection facilities in Pocheon on Wednesday,... and vowed all-out efforts to contain the outbreak and ensure stable pork supplies.
"What's for sure at this point is that the spread of the African swine fever took place through humans, animals or transport vehicles. Based on that premise, we will take swift and resolute measures."
The case comes only four months after North Korea revealed its own outbreak of African swine fever in late May.
While it is speculated that the disease spread to the South from North Korea, authorities are currently working to discover the exact cause of the outbreak.
African swine fever is a disease highly fatal to pigs, with a near 100 percent mortality rate.
It's highly contagious in pigs and no vaccine currently exists, but it's important to stress that the disease is harmless to humans.
The disease has already affected the pork prices though.
The average auction price of pork traded at 14 major wholesale markets across the nation had increased by nearly 33 percent on Tuesday, compared to the day before.
However, the agriculture ministry says the recent spike in prices is only due to the temporary distribution ban.
South Korea's finance minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will continue monitor the pork price trends, and prepare for emergency measures to stabilize prices if necessary.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News, Yeoncheon.
