Anchor: The government is going all out to prevent an outbreak of African swine fever in the country. Foreign case studies suggest livestock farms that feed food waste to pigs have a higher rate of developing the epidemic.
Our Park Jong-hong has this report.
Report: The government is ramping up measures to block African swine fever(ASF) from entering the country.
The agriculture and environment ministries announced on Wednesday they will assign officials to each pig farm where human food waste is used as feed.
The practice is considered one of the leading causes of the spread of the disease, which is not harmful to humans but is fatal and spreads rapidly among pigs.
Officials will conduct on-site inspections more than twice a month to ensure animal feed is heated for half an hour at over 80 degrees Celsius prior to being given to the pigs and check on the condition of livestock.
Farms that fall short of the criteria will be slapped with fines of up to 20 million won.
The ministries estimate 110-thousand pigs at 257 farms in the country use food waste as animal feed, accounting for one percent of all pigs in the country.
According to overseas case studies, 44 percent of Chinese farms affected by ASF were using food waste while 35 percent of afflicted farms in Russia were also employing the same practice.
In the meantime, the government is asking farms to reduce the use of human food waste as feed and is strictly banning the entry of livestock goods into the country.
So far, genes of the ASF virus were found by customs in 17 separate instances where sausage and processed pork products were carried into the country by travelers returning from China.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.