South Korea to kill 4,000 pigs to stop spread of African swine fever

South Korean authorities on Tuesday began to kill thousands of pigs to prevent the spread of African swine fever, Seoul’s Agriculture Ministry announced on Tuesday.

According to News Agency Yonhap, some 4,000 pigs will be slaughtered as a precautionary step after the first case was confirmed near the border with North Korea.

Yonhap said more than 6,000 pig farms would also be disinfected across the country in an effort to stop the spreading of the highly contagious disease.

The first case of the disease in South Korea comes around four months after an outbreak on the border between China and North Korea.

According to official figures, there are around 11.3 million farm pigs in South Korea.

The viral infection poses no danger to humans, but is usually deadly for pigs.

There is no vaccination against the disease.

Since its emergence in Africa in 2005, the disease had spread to 19 countries across Europe and Asia.

China, the world’s largest pork producer has culled almost half of the nation’s pigs in response to an outbreak that started in August 2018. (dpa/NAN)