The authorities are seeking to contain a possible epidemic after the H5N1 virus was discovered in a breeding farm in the south-west: 236,000 birds will be slaughtered by Thursday. This is the first emergence of bird flu in the country in three years.
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) South Korea has culled around 100,000 chickens and ducks in a bid to avert an epidemic after discovering the H5N1 virus of bird flu in a breeding farm in the south-west of the country, the South Korean Agriculture Minister said today.
By 30 November, Seoul plans to cull a total of 236,000 birds and an unspecified number of other animals like pigs, dogs and cats within a 500m-radius of the farm stricken by the virus in Iksan, south of the capital. Plans also include the destruction of six million eggs. Quarantine measures have been increased to the highest levels to contain a possible epidemic. Neighbouring Japan has already suspended poultry imports from South Korea.
This is the first time the disease has appeared in the country in three years. Some days ago, the Agriculture Minister said he suspected that 6,000 chickens in a breeding farm in an area that migratory birds fly over had been killed by bird flu. The last previous outbreak of bird flu in South Korea dates back to 2003, when 5.3 million birds were slaughtered.
Since it appeared for the first time in Asia three years ago, the H5N1 has killed 153 people worldwide. It is feared that the virus could mutate into a form that easily transmissible among humans. Experts have warned that human-to-human transmission, never ascertained to date, could spark a pandemic that would claim millions of lives.