South Korea's three leading hypermarket chains said Friday they have discontinued sales of sausages and ham products made from German and Dutch pork that have been embroiled in an infection scandal.

There have been allegations that products made of pork from the two countries may have infected British shoppers with the hepatitis E virus, which can cause fever, reduced appetite and nausea, according to media reports. 

"We do not sell sausages imported from Germany or the Netherlands but had products made with pork from the two countries and pulled them off all our shelves Thursday," a Lotte Mart official said.

The country's two other discount store chains, E-Mart and Homeplus, also said they removed ham and sausage products made with the European pork from their shelves. (Yonhap)