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Suspected bird flu in South Korea
A suspected case of bird flu has been discovered at a
poultry farm in the south west of South Korea, potentially marking the country's
first case in around three years, according to the country's agriculture
ministry.
The death of 6,000 chickens at a farm in North Cholla province has prompted
the suspicion. An official of the agriculture ministry said the remaining 6,000
chickens on the farm would be culled.
"This case appears quite likely to involve highly pathogenic
avian
influenza," said Kim Chang-sub, a top official at the ministry's quarantine
department.
"The final results of our testing should be known on November 25," Kim
said. He would not speculate as to whether it was the H5N1 strain, which is
potentially deadly to human beings.
The ministry said that the farm in question lies on a migratory path for
birds heading south for the winter.
Kim said Seoul would strengthen preventative measures, which include
keeping farm poultry indoors during the migration season and checking wild bird
flocks for signs of avian influenza.
About 400,000 poultry at South Korean farms were infected by bird flu
between December 2003 and March 2004.
During that outbreak, the country culled 5.3 million birds and spent about
1.5 trillion won ($1.6 billion) to prevent the disease spreading, officials
said.
Editor WorldPoultry
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