S.Korea braces for African swine fever outbreak after N.Korea case (updated)

Woosung

30/05/2019 16:52

* African swine fever found at farm in N.Korea - S.Korea  
    * S.Korea aims to prevent spread of virus across border
    * Shares of South Korean vaccine makers, feed makers rise

 (Recasts with S.Korean briefing, adds N.Korea's newspaper
comments, shares)
    By Jane Chung
    SEOUL, May 31 (Reuters) - South Korea readied on Friday to
prevent an outbreak of African swine fever in its pig herd after
the disease was found in North Korea, the latest Asian country
to be hit by the virus' rapid spread.
    The outbreak was confirmed at a farm in Jagang province in
North Korea near the country's border with China on May 25,
South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
said in a statement. More than 20 hogs were culled and more than
70 pigs died from the virus, the ministry said.
    The highly contagious disease, which is fatal to pigs but
does not affect humans, has spread rapidly across China since it
was first detected in the country last August and has also been
reported in Vietnam. There is no vaccine against it. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2330ZD
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1VF1X8
    The South Korean government held a meeting on Friday to
discuss ways to prevent the spread of the virus. Measures will
include stepping up disinfection near the border areas between
the two Koreas, the ministry said.
    "Although the outbreak occurred in Jagang near North Korea's
border with China, there is a possibility that the virus could
spread to the South and we plan to carry out extra disinfection
measures," Oh Soon-min, director general of the agriculture
ministry said at a press briefing.
    Separately, South Korea's unification ministry said it would
communicate with North Korea through an inter-Korean liaison
office to work on detailed protection measures.   
    Pork is a popular meat among South Koreans and is cheaper
than beef. The country had about 12 million pigs in the first
quarter of the year, according to data from Statistics Korea. 
    North Korea has not confirmed the swine fever outbreak, but
the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Friday reported three
articles about the risks of the virus and how rapidly it is
spreading around the world.
    However, South Korea's agriculture ministry said North Korea
had reported the outbreak to the Paris-based World Organisation
for Animal Health (OIE) on Thursday, and has taken measures to
prevent its spread, including disinfection.
    Outbreaks of bird flu and foot-and-mouth disease have been
reported in North Korea in the past but the size of North
Korea's poultry and livestock population is not known. 
    The South's agriculture ministry estimated that North Korea
has about 6.6 million of pigs at 14 farms, Oh told the press
briefing.        
    Shares of South Korean animal medicine suppliers, Eagle
Veterinary Technology  044960.KQ  and Cheil Bio  052670.KQ 
rallied on Friday as much as 23% and 16%, respectively, while
those of animal feed maker, Woosung Feed  006980.KS  jumped more
than 12%.
 

 (Reporting By Jane Chung; additional reporting by Hayoung Choi
and Hyonhee Shin; editing by Jane Merriman and Richard Pullin)
 ((jane.chung@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5667; Reuters
Messaging: jane.chung.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))