South Korean river turns red a with pigs blood
MUNSAN, South Korea - A river near the inter-Korean border has turned red after being polluted with blood from pig carcasses.
South Korean authorities had culled 47,000 pigs in an attempt to halt the spread of African swine fever (ASF).
Heavy rains caused blood to flow from a border burial site into a tributary of the Imjin River.
African swine fever is highly contagious and incurable, with a near zero survival rate for infected pigs, but it is not dangerous to humans.
Local authorities dismissed concerns that the blood could cause the spread of African swine fever to other at-risk animals, saying the pigs had already been disinfected before being slaughtered.
It also said emergency steps had been taken to prevent further pollution. The pig-culling operation was carried out over the weekend. The carcasses were said to have been left inside multiple trucks at a burial side near the inter-Korean border.
A delay in the production of plastic containers used for burial disposal meant that burials could not be carried out immediately.
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