November 30, 2006

South Korea to cull 609,000 more chickens to stem bird flu

South Korea's Agriculture Ministry said Thursday that authorities would cull another 609,000 chickens to try and stem the spread of bird flu, more than triple the previous amount designated for slaughter.

Originally, some 155,000 birds had been slated for culling, but the ministry said it was expanding the slaughter in the wake of a second outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease in the area of Iksan, about 250 kilometres south of Seoul.