South Korea confirms H5N8 bird flu outbreak at duck farm
Add BT as a preferred source
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
[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
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
TRENDING NOW
‘Boring’ is the new black: The stars are aligning for a Singapore stock market revival
Near sell-out launches in March boost developer sales to 1,300 units after four slow months
China pips the US if Asean is forced to choose, but analysts warn against reading it like a sports result
Genting Singapore’s Lim Kok Thay receives S$7.5 million pay package for FY2025
