Republic of Korea raises African swine fever alert after new outbreak

The Republic of Korea's quarantine authorities on Tuesday raised its African swine fever crisis alert to "serious" after this year's sixth ASF case was confirmed, according to Yonhap news agency.

The latest case was reported at a pig farm in the city of Dangjin, South Chungcheong province, about two months after the fifth case was confirmed in Yeoncheon county, Gyeonggi province.

The alert was raised to the highest level in a bid to issue a 48-hour standstill order for workers and vehicles at livestock-related facilities across the country, including pig farms, slaughterhouses and feed mills.

The authorities implemented emergency quarantine measures, including epidemiological investigations, disinfection, and pig culling.

The authorities plan to complete the first and second rounds of clinical and detailed inspections of pig farms with epidemiological links within seven days, while conducting clinical inspections once a week until the movement restrictions are lifted.