Another suspected African swine fever case was reported in South Korea on Tuesday, and within a matter of hour,... it was confirmed.
This latest case at a pig farm in Paju is the same area where the first case was confirmed just a couple of weeks ago.
The number of confirmed cases now stands at ten... with little sign the spread will end anytime soon.
Won Jung-hwan reports.
Yet another case of African swine fever has been confirmed by South Korea's Agriculture Ministry.
A suspected case was reported on Tuesday at a pig farm in Paju, a city close to the inter-Korean border, and the test results came back positive before daybreak on Wednesday.
Paju is where the first case was confirmed roughly two weeks ago on September 17th,... and this case brings the number of confirmed cases of African swine fever in South Korea to TEN.
As for the countermeasures being taken by authorities,... as of 3:30 AM, Korea time, on Wednesday a 48-hour movement ban was enforced for all pigs in Gyeonggi-do Province, Incheon and Gangwon-do Province.
Officials hope the move will prevent the further spread of the deadly animal disease as they continue to search for the source of the virus.
South Korea has culled more than 90-thousand pigs so far to prevent the further spread of the disease.
But with this latest case, that number will increase to more than 110-thousand.
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's no vaccine for the disease... but it does not affect humans.
So far, cases in South Korea have mostly been concentrated near the border with North Korea.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.