The deadly march of pig-killing disease African swine fever is continuing, with predictions the disease will wipe out 20 per cent of world meat protein by year's end.

Key points: African Swine Fever (ASF) is now throughout Asia, with South Korea the latest country to report an outbreak

African Swine Fever (ASF) is now throughout Asia, with South Korea the latest country to report an outbreak Analysts believe one quarter of the world's pigs have been killed as a result of ASF

Analysts believe one quarter of the world's pigs have been killed as a result of ASF Some say it is a bigger story than the trade war between China and the US

The disease has spread across South-East Asia, through parts of Europe, and has been found in Africa too.

Independent meat and livestock analyst Simon Quilty believes the spread through Asia is of particular concern to a part of the world that relies on pig meat for protein.

"We are seeing a disease that is moving from an endemic to a pandemic disease," he said.

"It's now almost throughout the whole of Asia and is uncontrollable."

South Korea confirms ASF

South Korea is the latest country to confirm swine fever has been found in the nation's pig herd.

There is now a 48-hour ban on livestock movement in the country and 4,000 pigs are being culled.

South Korea is a major trading partner with Australia and this latest announcement is being watched closely.

World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reports of African swine fever during 2019. ( Supplied: Mecardo Analysis )

"Pork is such a significant part of the South Korean diet; it makes up 27 kilos [per year] of their diet," Mr Quilty said.

"Any switch away from that will see an increase in consumption of chicken, beef, and sheep meat."

Australia has a free trade agreement with South Korea and in 2018 shipped close to 330,000 tonnes of beef to the nation.

A fall in pig numbers or pork consumption could potentially open the market to even greater demand for Australian beef or lamb.

China's swine fever changing the world

Without doubt the greatest impact on world agriculture in the last year has been the contraction of African swine fever in China.

This chart outlines early warning outbreaks of African swine fever in August 2019. ( Supplied: Mecardo Analysis )

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Analysts say official figures from the Chinese government on the loss of pigs due to swine fever have been low and the impact is far greater.

The official line is that 38.7 per cent of hogs in China have been killed but Mr Quilty believes that number will be close to 70 per cent by year's end.

"That equates to close to 20 per cent of global [meat] protein," he said.

"I don't think ever in our history has such a loss of global [meat] protein been seen in an 18-month period."

One in four of world's pigs dead

Mecardo analysis does not think the loss will be quite as high as 20 per cent but does not think the figure is too far from the mark.

The company believes the disease has killed one quarter of the world's pigs already.

ASF can live in meat, even if heavily processed, for years (file photo). ( ABC Rural: Tyne Logan )

"It's a bigger story in my view than the trade war we are seeing between China and the US," Mercardo's Andrew Whitelaw said.

"It's almost flipping trade flows on their heads again.

"Pork will move from basically anywhere in the world to China now; if it can be exported to China it will go to China.

"But then, it has a flow-on effect to all these other commodities like mutton, chicken ... We're seeing increase in price for North Atlantic salmon, so we're seeing it spread across [global] commodities."

Mr Whitelaw believes the downside of the major pig kill in China could be to Australian barley growers who usually would export large amounts of grain to feed pigs in China.

Australia needs to remain disease-free

Experts believe the boom for Australian meat exports will only remain as long as the country is able to keep African swine fever outside its borders.

ASF can live in meat, even if it is heavily processed, for years and there is a lot of pressure on Australian border security to keep tourists and importers from bringing contaminated products into the country.

If contaminated pork is fed to a pig, the results for Australian agriculture would be catastrophic.

"It's why swill feeding [the practice of feeding scraps to pigs] is illegal in Australia," Mr Whitelaw said.