May 22, 2008

Suspected bird flu case reported at South Korean chicken farm
 

A suspected bird flu case has emerged at a chicken farm in central South Korea after over a week of no new outbreaks, the South Korean government said on Wednesday.

About 60 chickens started dying on Monday at a farm in Nonsan, 213 km south of Seoul. A preliminary on-site test came up positive for the H5 bird flu, but it is not yet clear whether it is the virulent H5N1 strain.

Most of the 11,000 birds at the farm do not seem to be affected and egg production has returned to normal, said an expert, who added that areas within 3 km of the farm have been put under quarantine as a precautionary measure.

In addition, tests conducted on samples taken from a chicken farm in Gimje and a dead swan in Akita, Japan, have showed 99.7 percent of genetic similarities with the H5N1 virus that killed the birds.