|
 There is no vaccine for the highly contagious disease fatal to pigs,
but which does not affect humans. It spread rapidly across China
after being detected there last August, and has also been reported
in Vietnam.
The North's outbreak was confirmed on Saturday at a farm in its
province of Jagang near the border with China, South Korea's
agriculture ministry said in a statement, with more than 20 hogs
culled and more than 70 dead from the virus.
"There is a possibility that the virus could spread to the South and
we plan to carry out extra disinfection measures," Oh Soon-min, the
ministry's director general, told a news briefing after a government
meeting on ways to block the virus.
Measures will include stepping up disinfection in areas near the
shared border, the ministry said.
South Korea's unification ministry said it would make use of a
liaison office with its reclusive neighbor to work out detailed
protection measures with the North.
Pork, cheaper than beef, is a popular meat in South Korea, which had
about 11.2 million pigs in the first quarter, data from Statistics
Korea shows.
North Korea has not confirmed the swine fever outbreak, but the
state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Friday carried three articles
on the risks posed by the virus and its rapid spread.
However, South Korea's agriculture ministry said its neighbor had
reported the outbreak to the Paris-based World Organisation for
Animal Health (OIE) on Thursday, and took steps to control its
spread, including disinfection.
LACK OF PREVENTION CAPABILITY
The North's outbreak comes as it grapples with food shortages, when
four in ten citizens are going hungry after the worst harvest in a
decade, the United Nations said this month.
"The food and nutrition insecurity situation in North Korea is
worrying and the African swine fever outbreak puts additional
pressure on the availability of proteins of animal origin," said
Vincent Martin, an official of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture
Organization in China and North Korea.
[to top of second column] |
The North's pork consumption has increased recently as leader Kim
Jong Un pushed to increase meat supply, said Kwon Tae-jin of the
GSnJ Institute, an expert on its agriculture.
"It will mainly affect the elite because not every North Korean can
easily eat pork or other types of meat," he said, referring to the
virus outbreak.
"The biggest concern is lack of sanitary and prevention capability."
North Korea raises mainly chicken, ducks and rabbits, but its pig
population in 2017 rose 8.9% on the year to 2.6 million, according
to Statistics Korea.
South Korean pork producers worry that wild boars near the border
could carry in the virus, hitting pig farms.
"Prevention is the best way to counter the virus," said Oh Yu-hwan,
an official of the Korea Pork Producers' Association.
"The government should step up controlling wild boars, otherwise it
could threaten the foundation of the industry."
The government plans to build more fences to protect farm animals
from wild boars and relax rules on hunting them, the ministry said.
However, the average retail price of pork belly changed little in
South Korea, standing at 1,857 won ($1.56) per 100 gram (0.22 lb) on
May 30 from 1,854 won a year earlier, data from state-run Korea
Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp shows.
Shares of South Korean animal medicine suppliers, Eagle Veterinary
Technology and Cheil Bio rallied as much as 23% and 16%,
respectively, while those of animal feed maker Woosung Feed jumped
more than 12%.
($1=1,191.3000 won)
(Reporting by Jane Chung; additional reporting by Hayoung Choi and
Hyonhee Shin in SEOUL and Dominique Patton in BEIJING; Editing by
Richard Pullin and Clarence Fernandez)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
