The South Korean government said Thursday it has discovered a suspected case of the bird flu virus at a chicken farm in the southwestern city of Iksan.
The country went on high bird flu alert this month as migratory birds that can spread the deadly disease flock to the country for the winter, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said.
"About 6,000 birds out of 13,000 chickens raised on the farm have died from Sunday through Wednesday," said Kim Chang-seob, chief veterinary officer at the Agriculture Ministry.
He said the government received word of the outbreak on Wednesday when more than 5,000 birds died suddenly on the farm. He said judging from the large number of deaths and initial tests conducted, the virus is likely to be of the virulent strain.
The farm does not sell the chickens it raises for consumption, but produces eggs and chicks that are sold to other growers.
The ministry is expected to confirm details on the virus late Saturday after samples of the suspected virus are being thoroughly analyzed at a state lab, Kim said.
An extremely virulent strain of the bird flu would be dangerous to humans if it were to mutate to a form that could pass from human to human.
Following government operating procedures established in 2004, the official said the farm's remaining chickens will be culled and buried and a quarantine will be enforced for a 10-kilometer radius around the farm. All eggs have been destroyed, while two hatcheries that have received eggs from the farm have been closed.
"About 5 million chickens and ducks are within the 10 kilometer radius although no other farm has reported unusual deaths," the veterinary officer said. He said authorities are trying to figure out how the birds became infected by the avian influenza.
Kim said the farmer and all people that may have come in contact with the chickens are being examined for flu-like symptoms, such as high fever.
In addition, policymakers are trying to determine what measures will be needed to allow Halim Co., South Korea's largest chicken processing plant, to continue operations. The main factory is within the 10 kilometer quarantine limit.
Halim processes 350,000 chickens per day and enjoys 30-40 percent of the domestic market share.
"Because the animals processed at Halim are from all over the country and not from the Iksan area alone, there is probably no need to close down the facility if tight safety measures are enforced," the official said. He said the farm that had reported the outbreak had commercial ties with Halim. Kim, however, said the export of frozen chicken and duck meat as well samgyetang will be affected. Most of these products are shipped to Japan. A ban on frozen chicken and duck meat can last 3-4 months.
The official then stressed that there is no need for public concern since South Korea has a proven track record of isolating past bird flu outbreaks. He said people are safe to eat chicken and duck meat since the disease is only transmitted through direct contact with infected animals.
In 2003-2004, South Korea had to dispose of a large number of chickens and ducks when the H5N1 strain swept through the country.
The government destroyed 5.3 million birds in the outbreak at a cost of about 1.5 billion won (US$1.61 million) to prevent the spread of the disease.
The World Health Organization has reported that bird flu has killed at least 148 people in 10 countries since December 2003, and the Asian region has been hit hard by the virus. There had been a total of 43 countries that reported the bird flu outbreak overall, with 28 still not having fully contained it.
Seoul, Nov. 23 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea reports suspected bird flu case in southwest |
