November 27, 2007

South Korea slaughters 4,000 ducks with bird flu

South Korean officials announced the slaughter of around 4,000 thousand ducks at four southern farms due to bird flu.

Officials said the virus was first discovered on a farm near Gwangju, 250 kilometre south of Seoul. As part of precautionary measures, approximately 3,800 ducks were culled on the farm and 12,000 at three other farms nearby.

Tests have confirmed that the strain of is H7 and it is not contagious to humans.

South Korea struggled against seven outbreaks of the poultry virus from November 2006 to March 2007.