April 8, 2008

 

South Korea testing third recent bird flu outbreak

 

 

South Korea conducted tests Tuesday (April 8, 2008) in its third recent bird flu outbreak to see if it was a virus strain that is deadly for people, as reports of suspected cases at more poultry farms triggered concern the disease was spreading.

 

Two outbreaks involving the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu have been confirmed in South Korea this month - the first time the disease has hit the country since March 2007.

 

The latest outbreak happened at a duck farm just 1.8 kilometres from the first case last week in Gimje, about 260 kilometers south of Seoul, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

 

About 62,000 poultry in the area were to be destroyed as a precaution. That will bring the total number of birds to be killed in the three outbreaks to about 380,000.

 

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry said it has received reports of three more suspected bird flu outbreaks at duck farms near the sites of original cases.

 

Tests were under way to see whether involved the H5N1 strain, which has killed at least 238 people worldwide since 2003, according to World Health Organization figures.

 

Between 2006 and March 2007, seven outbreaks of the deadly virus hit poultry farms across South Korea, resulting in the slaughter of about 2.8 million birds.

 

So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected poultry. The disease is now relatively difficult for humans to catch, but health authorities fear it could mutate into a form that is easily spread among humans, which could cause a flu pandemic.

 

Health officials are hoping to contain the virus by slaughtering infected poultry to limit its contact with humans.