By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Overseas travelers bringing pets will be banned from carrying them in immigration areas at airports or ports because of possible transmission of pneumonic plague from animals to humans.
The Korea Customs Service said Monday that it will prohibit animals being brought in to be quarantined in immigration and baggage claim areas starting Tuesday.
The measure came after it was found in China that the disease was passed from a dog to a human through fleas.
So far, travelers have claimed their pets at baggage claim areas in airports or ports and undergone simple clearance and quarantine procedures. But they now have to claim the pets at a cargo storehouse outside the airport buildings.
The customs agency has asked for cooperation by airlines and related authorities, so that pets will not be brought in with ordinary baggage.
It will also strengthen the customs process for pets and checking quarantine certificates issued by the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service.
During the first seven months of this year, 3,095 pet dogs were imported, 2,411 of them from China.