Since the outbreak of the animal disease, the local price of pork had jumped more than 30 percent but later lost ground as consumers avoided consuming pork despite the fact the virus is not harmful to people. (Yonhap)
SEJONG, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The average wholesale price of pork in South Korea plunged nearly 40 percent in October from a month earlier, as consumers shunned the meat amid the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) here, data showed Saturday.
A kilogram of pork cost 2,969 won (US$2.52) as of Friday morning, down 38 percent from a month earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Compared with 2018, the price surrendered 24.1 percent.
The retail price of a kilogram of pork belly, one of the most popular parts among South Koreans, fell more than 13 percent from a month earlier to 17,810 won.
South Korea has confirmed 14 cases of African swine fever at local pig farms since mid-September, when the country experienced its first outbreak of the disease.
No additional ASF infections from local pig farms were reported since the 14th case confirmed Oct. 9. All confirmed cases from wild and domestic pigs came from areas bordering North Korea.
In May, North Korea reported its first outbreak of the disease at a farm near its border with China to the World Organization for Animal Health.
Still, it remains unknown how the virus traveled into South Korea, although the disease normally spreads through direct contact with infected animals.
Earlier this week, the government announced its plan to mobilize soldiers and civilian hunters to hunt down wild boars in designated areas near the border to keep the deadly hog disease from spreading further.
A quarantine official disinfects a truck carrying pigs on South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju on Sept. 20, 2019, as the government makes efforts to prevent the nationwide spread of African swine fever. (Yonhap)
The virus is not harmful to humans but causes hemorrhagic fever in pigs that is almost always fatal. There is no antidote or vaccine, and the only known way to prevent the disease from spreading is a mass culling of affected livestock.
The ministry earlier expressed concerns over a possible hike in the pork price here, as its quarantine officials had been culling pigs within a 3-kilometer radius of ASF-infected farms, leading to a tight supply.
South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest pork consumer, has slaughtered and buried more than 150,000 pigs since the outbreak started.
Since the outbreak of the animal disease, the local price of pork had jumped more than 30 percent but later lost ground as consumers avoided consuming pork despite the fact the virus is not harmful to people.
The agricultural ministry and agricultural organizations have been urging the public not to avoid pork due to ASF.
“The ASF virus is only fatal for pigs, and people cannot be infected with the disease. It is completely safe for people to consume South Korean pigs,” Nonghyup, a public agricultural cooperative, said in a statement.
The ministry plans to join ties with local supermarkets to offer discounts for pork and induce more people to consume the meat.
(Yonhap)
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