Gov't culls pigs to isolate cholera outbreak

SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- The government of Thursday said it culled 600 pigs to
contain a highly contagious cholera outbreak in the southern part of the country.
The hog cholera outbreak was reported earlier in the month at a farm in Iksan 230
kilometers south of Seoul, with authorities having destroyed and buried the
animals as of Wednesday, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries said.
It said while only 30 animals got sick, it disposed of all the pigs raised on the
farm as a precautionary measure.
The disease, also called swine fever and caused by the CSFV virus, causes skin
lesions and usually leads to death in young animals.
Because the disease is endemic to the country, all pigs are vaccinated, but some
do not receive the necessary shots due to oversight by farmers. The country
reports an average 2-7 cases of the disease every year.
The disease cannot be transmitted to humans, but it has prevented the country
from exporting pork.
"Animal health authorities are taking blood samples of 160 farms in the vicinity
of where the outbreak occurred with tests to be concluded next week," a official
said.
Under existing rule, Seoul pays current market prices for each pig culled to
prevent the spread of animal-borne diseases.
The ministry said it wants to become a "hog cholera free country" by 2015 so it
can ship domestically produced pork overseas and move to improve livestock
raising standards that have been cited for causing the outbreaks.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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