African swine fever outbreak

The agriculture ministry Tuesday confirmed the first case of African swine fever (ASF) at a pig farm in Paju, a city near the border with North Korea. ASF is highly contagious and has a fatality rate of nearly 100 percent. Currently, there are neither vaccines nor cures for the disease. This raises concerns about a potential spread of the virus to other parts of the country.

The first confirmed case here came four months after North Korea reported its first discovery of the disease at a farm near its border with China. The first ASF case in East Asia was confirmed in China in August 2018. The disease could have been transmitted through wild boars from North Korea, but it’s unclear yet how and through what vectors ASF broke out here.

Most woeful is the possibility that the disease may have already spread to many other areas. On Wednesday, the agriculture ministry confirmed a second ASF outbreak at a pig farm in Yeoncheon, another border city in Gyeonggi Province.

South Korea raised its animal disease alert to the highest level and culled nearly 4,000 pigs at three farms in Paju. The ministry also slapped a nationwide “standstill” on the movement of pigs and related livestock for 48 hours to prevent the spread of the virus.

The ministry vowed to disinfect 6,300 pig farms nationwide. But considering that the first week after the first case is the most perilous period, the importance of swift disinfection measures cannot be emphasized enough.

The government should do whatever it can to contain the virus early, including letting farms replace leftover foods with new feed, and disinfecting farms.