March 23, 2023

ASF reoccurs in South Korea following one-month hiatus

South Korea reported another African swine fever (ASF) case after a one-month hiatus on March 20, and issued a standstill order on pig farms and related facilities in the country's northern regions, the agriculture ministry said.

The disease was found at a pig farm in the city of Pocheon, 41 kilometers northeast of Seoul, which raised 12,842 pigs, after 50 of the pigs died last week and an in-depth inspection was conducted, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It marked the fifth ASF case in South Korea so far this year, with the last case being reported in the northern county of Yangyang in mid-February.

The authorities are culling pigs raised there as a preventive step and issued a 48-hour standstill order in the western city of Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, and the northern part of Gangwon Province, the ministry added. They will also carry out inspections into adjacent and other related farms and facilities.

There are 80 pig farms within a 10-km radius of the affected farm, which raise about more than 170,000 pigs combined, according to the ministry.

- Yonhap