South Korea confirms H5N8 bird flu outbreak at duck farm
[SEOUL] South Korea has confirmed an outbreak of the highly contagious H5N8 bird flu virus at a duck farm in a south-western county, its first such incident in 15 days, the farm ministry said on Wednesday.
Asia's fourth largest economy has culled a record number of more than 33 million farm birds, or nearly a fifth of its poultry population, in the battle to contain its worst-ever outbreak of bird flu since November last year.
This week's case was reported in Haenam county, more than 390 km south-west of the capital, Seoul. It follows the discovery of the same type of virus at a hen farm in the south-western region on Feb 6.
About 23,000 ducks reared on the farm have been culled, the agriculture ministry said in a statement, but another suspected case was reported at a hen farm on Wednesday in the central part of the country.
Most of the birds culled in the fight against the epidemic so far were infected with the H5N6 strain of the virus, and no cases of human infection have ever been reported in South Korea.
REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
Oil prices steady after Iran plays down reported Israeli attack
G7 pledges swift aid for Ukraine, seeks to calm Middle East
H5N1 strain of bird flu found in milk: WHO
China moves to boost foreign investment in domestic tech companies
Xi orders China’s biggest military reorganisation since 2015
Warner Bros CEO earned US$49.7 million in strike-impacted year