December 29, 2010

South Korea reports dead teal ducks with bird flu strain

South Korea's farm ministry has discovered 20 dead spectacled teal ducks which were affected by the virulent strain of bird flu.

The ministry has taken emergency decontamination measures after the discovery.

The discovery of the dead birds in Haenam, 430 kilometres south of Seoul, is the third finding this month and local poultry farmers were raising concerns on this issue.

The dead birds were found to be carrying the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza, but this does not mean South Korea was affected by the disease since no domestically raised ducks and chickens have become sick, officials said.

The latest finding comes after Seoul reported dead birds affected by bird flu on December 7 and December 10. Bird flu is an air-borne disease that is usually transmitted between animals. The disease can spread to humans, but no human cases have been reported in South Korea so far.

The ministry said although no domestic birds were affected, decontamination will be carried out within a 10 kilometre radius where the dead teal ducks were found.

Within the newly designated decontamination area, there are some 43 farms raising 820,000 chickens and other birds, officials said.

Frontline quarantine officials said they have stepped up inspections on wild birds that migrate to the Korean Peninsula during the winter months, and have increased the number of birds caught to check the bird flu strains.

South Korea has been hit by avian influenza three times, with the latest outbreak occurring in April of 2008 and resulting in a record 8.46 million birds being culled at a cost of about KRW264 billion (US$230.7 million). Previous outbreaks took place in the winter months of 2003-2004 and 2006-2007.