February 27, 2004

Bird Flu in South Korea Less Lethal Than H5N1

The bird flu strain in South Korea is genetically different from the deadly H5N1 that has killed 22 people and millions of chickens in Asia.

A series of tests on the South Korean strain by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention that showed it to be a variant of the H5N1 avian influenza that has been claiming human lives.

"The US CDC's test results showed that South Korea's bird flu virus is a purely avian influenza virus with no history of affecting humans," a statement from the state-run Korea Center for Disease Control & Prevention said.

It added that "the gene test showed that South Korea's bird flu virus differs from that found in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos."

The virulent H5N1 avian influenza virus has hit eight Asian countries and killed 15 people from Vietnam and seven from Thailand since December 2003.

It has also crossed the species barrier to domestic animals such as house cats and killed a rare clouded leopard in Thailand.

South Korea first reported an outbreak of the disease among chickens and ducks on December 10 last year, and a week later the authorities asked the United States for help to determine the genetic make up of the virus.

The outbreak prompted blood tests on almost 2,000 people living near poultry farms.

Chicken sales dropped and the industry suffered a further blow when exports of the meat were halted to Hong Kong, China and Japan.

South Korea has slaughtered almost 4.5 million chickens and ducks from its entire poultry stocks of almost 108 million birds in an effort to contain the disease, the agriculture ministry said.