Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Bans German Pork Imports 'Outbreak of Disease Control'

The government has banned imports of German pork due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will ban imports of German pork and pork products from yesterday (10th) as of the German shipment date.

In addition, we will also conduct foot-and-mouth disease tests on German pork that have been shipped and arrived in Korea since December 27th last year, and take measures according to the results.

The German government previously confirmed that the three dead buffalo on a farm in Brandenburg state were foot-and-mouth disease, according to a report to the World Organization for Animal Health.

This is the first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany in 37 years since 1988, and the first in Europe since the last outbreak in Bulgaria in 2011.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a disease caused by cattle, pigs, and sheep being infected with the foot-and-mouth disease virus and is highly contagious and is designated as a first-class livestock infectious disease in Korea.