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(2nd LD) H5N1 bird flu found in S. Korea's capital city
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- The deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was detected on Tuesday in dead chickens from a bird vivarium in Seoul, government officials said, prompting quarantine officials to decontaminate and limit access to a nearby children's park and open air market.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said quarantine officials detected the highly virulent H5N1 strain in the two dead chickens from the bird vivarium located at the Gwangjin ward office in eastern Seoul.
Earlier in the day, the ministry said tests conducted on a group of four birds that started dying in late April showed they were contaminated with the H5 avian influenza virus.
The outbreak of the highly virulent H5N1 strain marks the first time that avian influenza has hit Seoul since quarantine officials received reports of wholesale bird deaths on April 1.
The bird vivarium raised 57 chickens, ducks, pheasants and turkeys. The ministry said all birds in the vivarium have been culled and buried as a precautionary measure.
"Interviews with the ward's workers revealed that the pheasant that died on April 28 was bought at a livestock market in Seongnam, south of Seoul," a quarantine official said. He added that inspectors have been dispatched to the market to check for additional contamination and to find out how the pheasant got sick.
The expert said while there is little chance of the bird flu spreading in an urban environment, authorities have sealed off Children's Grand Park, located 1.2 kilometers from the vivarium, and Gyeongdong market, where some live poultry transactions take place.
Children's Grand Park reported that it culled and buried 63 chickens, ducks, turkeys and pheasants that were in its zoo. Seoul Grand Park, located in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, added that it has destroyed 221 birds, including geese and migratory ducks, as a precautionary measure while holding other birds in quarantine.
The outbreak in the capital city has heightened worries that authorities are unable to contain the spread of the disease that has caused about 6 million birds to be culled so far.
Most of the initial bird flu cases reported this year were centered in the Jeolla region in southwestern South Korea. It has since spread through most of the country with bird deaths being reported in the Gyeongsang region in the southeast and two cities in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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