S. Korea to maintain round-the-clock swine flu quarantine regime

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- The government announced Thursday it will maintain a
round-the-clock quarantine regime to guard against a possible outbreak of swine
flu in the country.
The monitoring and response team will be headed by Health and Welfare Minister
Jeon Jae-hee and will oversee the duties carried out by the Korea Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
Seoul raised its public alert status this week due to one "probable" case that
was reported. In addition, 16 people have been found to have symptoms similar to
those that killed more than 150 people in Mexico and one in the United States.
"The government is taking all necessary steps, and since the swine flu can be
contained, we ask the public to follow all public notices," she said.
Related to growing public concerns, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries, and the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service
(NVRQS) said they have increased sampling all pork being imported from Mexico,
the U.S. and Canada as a precautionary measure.
The government banned the import of live pigs from North America used for
breeding Wednesday.
The NVRQS also that it has started checking processed and fresh pork imported
earlier in the month.
Experts, however, stressed that it is highly unlikely that the variant H1N1
virus, cited for causing the illness, will be found in meat.
"No pig has ever been found to carry this particular virus," Chang Ki-yoon, chief
veterinary officer at the ministry, said.
The official added that starting in May, authorities will monthly check roughly
10 percent of the 78,000 hog farms in the country for sick animals.
"After having experienced the bird flu three times, South Korea has a very
advanced quarantine regime," he said.
The ministry said it has appropriated 16 billion won (US$12.4 million) in funds
from the extra budget that was passed Wednesday.
Meanwhile, ministry and industry sources said the swine flu scare has caused
prices of hogs to fall sharply since Monday.
A 110-kg hog that fetched 371,000 won last Friday, before the outbreak received
extensive coverage in the media, dropped to 303,000 won as of Wednesday.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)