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S. Korea confirms another highly pathogenic bird flu outbreak
SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Saturday that it has confirmed an additional outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in the southwestern area of the country.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that the case of bird flu reported on Thursday at a chicken farm in Jeongeup, North Jeolla province, tested positive for the H5N1 virus. The farm is located four kilometers away from the area where the nation's third case of bird flu for this year was reported.
The ministry said it plans to limit the movement of poultry, people and cars to a 10-kilometer radius of the area, while seeking to cull and bury 525,000 chickens and ducks raised within three kilometers of the affected farm.
As of Saturday morning, South Korea received reports of 46 suspected and confirmed outbreaks of bird flu, with 25 cases proven to be linked to the deadly virus.
Most of the cases had been concentrated in South and North Jeolla provinces, located in South Korea's southeastern area. But a recent outbreak in Pyeongtaek, around 70 kilometers from Seoul, raised concerns that bird flu might be spreading rapidly nationwide.
On Wednesday, South Korea put the whole country on the second-highest avian influenza alert.
Quarantine officials said they have culled 3.71 million so far since the nation's first bird flu outbreak for this year was reported earlier this month.
The ministry earlier said that the bird flu outbreak is estimated to have caused 30 billion won (US$30.1 million) worth of damages as millions of birds have been culled and buried. Demand for both chicken and duck meat has also been falling, with some discount outlets reporting a 14 percent drop in sales.
South Korea killed 5.6 million poultry due to bird flu outbreaks in the winter of 2003 and destroyed 2.8 million more in 2006. No human deaths have been reported here.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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