South Korea to cull birds in flu scare
Bird migration is a risk to the spread of bird flu
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Saturday, 20, Jan 2007 06:59
South Korea is to cull more than 270,000 birds after an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus.
Officials from the country's agriculture ministry confirmed that they will begin the culling in Cheonan, south of the capital Seoul. A quarantine zone has been set up around the area, and the future of another 386,000 birds potentially infected is yet to be decided.
The quarantine zone affects 90 farms and more than two million chickens in a six mile radius around the outbreak site.
"We plan to start slaughtering 273,000 poultry within a 500m radius of the outbreak site and destroying eggs as early as Saturday evenings," said the ministry.
The last major outbreak of Asian bird flu occurred in 2003, with South Korea culling 5.3 million birds as a result. While the disease is generally restricted to birds, the deadly H5N1 strain can be transmitted to humans who come in direct contact with the disease.
Some scientists also fear that the virus may mutate, making it easier to transmit between birds and humans.
The H5N1 strain has already killed about 160 people worldwide since the first outbreak was detected four years ago. The disease is curable but those infected with the virus must receive treatment within the first 48 hours of infection.
There is currently no human or animal vaccination available to counteract the disease, with most countries employing culling and quarantine measures to stop the spread.
Bird migration has helped spread the disease over international borders. In some reported cases, droppings from infected birds flying over certain regions have caused major outbreaks in poultry farms.