We begin this morning with yet another confirmed case of African swine fever in South Korea... bringing the total number of confirmed cases to ten in the span of two weeks.
Arirang News' Won Jung-hwan is live on the line with the details.
Jung-hwan, this was the suspected case north of Seoul reported yesterday?
You're absolutely right, Connyoung.
The suspected African swine fever case at a pig farm in Paju, a city close to the inter-Korean border, which was reported here in South Korea on Tuesday, came back positive before daybreak on this Wednesday.
Now, Paju, north of Seoul, is the same place where the very first case of ASF in this country was confirmed roughly two weeks ago.
This latest case brings the number of confirmed cases of African swine fever in South Korea to TEN.
So, what kinds of measures are being taken by the authorities in charge?
Connyoung, as of 3:30 AM Korea time, South Korean authorities have issued a movement ban of
hogs for 48 hours in Gyeonggi-do Province, Incheon and Gangwon-do Province to prevent the further spread of the deadly animal disease as they continue to look into the source of the virus.
With the latest case confirmed this morning, more than 110-thousand hogs are expected to be culled nationwide to prevent the spread of the virus - that's nearly one-percent of all pigs in South Korea.
African swine fever is highly contagious and nearly 100-percent fatal to swine herds.
There is no vaccine for the disease... but it does not affect humans.
Up until now, cases in South Korea have mostly been concentrated near the border with North Korea. Connyoung.
Arirang News' Won Jung-hwan with the latest on the tenth confirmed case of African swine fever in South Korea. Thanks, Jung-hwan.
