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Men fold the pigs to the attaboirs. In South Korea, 150,000 pigs infected with swine flu have already been slaughtered. YELIM LEE / AFP

The outbreak of African swine fever continues to hit the South Korean agri-food industry. Sign of consumer anxiety: pork prices have fallen by almost 40% since the beginning of the crisis.

With our correspondent in Seoul, Frédéric Ojardias

The authorities have confirmed, Monday, October 21, an eleventh case of wild boar affected by this highly contagious disease . The virus of African swine fever is not transmitted in humans, keep reminding the South Korean authorities to reassure consumers. But nothing helps, in October, pork prices fell by 38%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

More than 150 000 pigs have already been slaughtered in a preventive way to stop the disease. All infected farms are close to the border with North Korea.

North Korea refuses to cooperate

The virus was probably transmitted by a wild boar that managed to cross this ultra-militarized border and the army has deployed the major means to hunt these animals: thermal camera drones, traps, and snipers equipped with infrared glasses.

In North Korea, the scale of the epidemic is not known, but it seems to be wreaking havoc in a country already suffering from chronic malnutrition. The Pyongyang regime, however, has been refusing for months to cooperate with Seoul on this issue. An attitude that has undoubtedly contributed to aggravate the crisis.