Another case of African swine fever has been found in the Ganghwa district of Incheon, pushing up the total number of confirmed cases to nine.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday that the ninth case of the disease had been detected at a pig farm on Ganghwa Island, about 60 kilometers west of Seoul. Two other suspected farms in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, tested negative.
(Yonhap)
The farm where the most recent case was detected has some 2,000 pigs.
The first outbreak of the deadly animal virus was confirmed Sept. 17 at a hog farm in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. All confirmed cases of the virus have been found in the inter-Korean border areas of Incheon and Paju.
On Thursday, quarantine authorities extended the 48-hour movement ban on all pig farms and other related facilities until noon Saturday, after five more outbreaks of the disease were reported. The government also banned all vehicles used in the livestock industry of the 10 cities and the district inside northern Gyeonggi Province from traveling outside the region.
As the massive spread of swine fever continues, more than 28,000 pigs have been slaughtered as of 7 p.m. Thursday, and some 32,500 more are set to be culled.
The disease is mainly spread by contaminated feed or by coming into direct contact with infected wild animals. Humans can also be carriers of the virus but they cannot be infected by it.
By Choi Ji-won (
jwc@heraldcorp.com)
