April 3, 2008

South Korea to cull 150,000 poultry amid bird flu outbreak scare

South Korean quarantine officials will cull 150,000 poultry at a chicken farm as a bird flu precaution following an outbreak, according to an official on Thursday.

The outbreak in Gimje, about 260 kilometres south of Seoul, was caused by a H5 bird flu strain although further tests were underway to confirm the strain type, according to Lee Sung-jae, head of the quarantine bureau at the North Jeolla provincial government.

The culling is a precautionary measure to contain the disease just in case it turns out to be a dangerous bird flu strain, said Lee.

Lee added that there are about 1.6 million chickens within the three kilometres radius of the suspected outbreak site.

South Korea culled about 8 million birds during bird flu outbreaks in 2003 and 2006.