January 28, 2004

South Korea Bans China Poultry Imports

South Korea joined other countries in banning poultry imports from China Wednesday after officials there confirmed the country has also been hit by a highly contagious bird flu.

Kim Young-man, a spokesman at South Korea's Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, said China notified South Korean officials late Tuesday night that bird flu had infected a poultry farm in China's southern Guangxi region.

"China requested us not to impose a ban on poultry from other regions where the bird flu was found, but we decided to impose a ban on all poultry imports from China as that is the routine procedure," Kim said.

Last year, South Korea imported 387 metric tons of chicken meat and 1,834 tons of duck meat from China.

South Korea has also been gripped by the disease since its first outbreak in December.

South Korean authorities have culled more than 2 million chickens and other fowl in an effort to contain the avian flu virus. Health experts say the bird flu in South Korea is caused by the H5N1 strain, that has been linked to human deaths.