Over the weekend, South Korea confirmed that the highly contagious African swine fever was found in the dead bodies of two more wild boars near the DMZ.
It doesn't affect humans, but it's fatal to pigs... and since last month the outbreak has prompted South Korea to put down tens of thousands of pigs at farms.
Yoon Jung-min reports.
Quarantine authorities have found African swine fever in the bodies of two more wild boars found Saturday near the border with North Korea.
According to the environment ministry,... they were found in Cheorwon County, Gangwon-do Province. So far, the virus has been found in five wild boars.
The government said it's unlikely that the boars themselves came from North Korea, but it's possible that the virus came from the North indirectly,... adding to concerns over its spread in the wild.
The environment ministry has been carrying out regular check-ups on wild boars... since African swine fever broke out in China late last year.
The agriculture ministry announced on Sunday that it will allow the shooting and capture of wild boars in those regions to stop the virus from spreading.
At South Korean farms, there have been 14 cases of the disease since last month, also mostly near the border with North Korea.
The government has bought up pigs from those farms or killed the pigs to prevent the disease from spreading to other regions.
So far, nearly 150-thousand pigs nationwide have been culled.
The authorities have been investigating... while temporarily prohibiting people and vehicles from moving in and out of those regions.
African swine fever is not a threat to humans, but it is highly contagious and fatal to swine herds. Despite efforts to contain the disease, it has shown little sign of abating.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.