South Korea is ramping up its disinfection efforts against African swine fever as the country confirmed its ninth case of the animal disease earlier today.
"Nine cases have been confirmed so far. Five out of the nine confirmed cases originated in Ganghwa County. A total of 62 thousand pigs are subject to culling,... and around 29 thousand pigs have been culled so far."
Two suspected cases in Yangju,... a city close to Seoul, and one suspected case in Yeoncheon turned out negative.
All the confirmed cases of African swine fever have been detected in regions relatively close to North Korea,.... such as the northern areas of Gyeonggi-do Province and Incheon.
The government has banned all vehicles engaged in the livestock industry in northern Gyeonggi-do Province from traveling outside of the area.
The highly contagious disease is harmless to humans but highly fatal to pigs.
Authorities are currently working to find out exactly *how the disease entered South Korea.