July 15, 2020

South Korea braces for potential second wave of ASF

South Korea is preparing to stop a potential second wave of African swine fever outbreaks as the number of infected wild boars increased steady in recent times, the government announced on July 15.

 
"We are making site visits to local farms to check if they have beefed up their facilities to fight the virus," an official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. "Authorities are also monitoring all vehicles entering the farms through global positioning systems."
 

The movement of cars involved in the livestock sector has been placed under control  in 14 cities and towns across Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces to keep ASF in check.

ASF swept through pig farms in the inter-Korean border region last year, prompting South Korea to cull about 400,000 pigs as part of preventive measures. The country confirmed its first-ever outbreak of the animal disease in September 2019.
 

No ASF cases on farms have been reported since early October.
 

However, by July 13, South Korea discovered 670 cases among wild boars. The cases originated from areas bordering North Korea.
 

"The level of anti-disease measures should be significantly different nowadays compared with the pre-outbreak period," the ministry official said. "We plan to speed up the installation of fences at local pig farms to prevent their contact with wild boars."
 

- Yonhap