New case of bird flu in South Korea confirmed

Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 22 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Just as South Korea was hoping it had seen the back of the latest bird flu another new case appears. This new outbreak was found at a chicken farm in the Kyonggi Province. It is the first case since February 5th, 2004.

The Agriculture Ministry said they have destroyed 16,000 chickens. The Minister of Agriculture came to see the farm. He asked people to make sure the place was thoroughly disenfected.

The farm is about 25 miles north of Seoul, the capital of Korea.

The authorities are going to destroy all poultry within a three kilometre radius of the infected farm. All poultry within a 30 kilometre radius will be checked twice a day (by phone).

So far the country has destroyed over five million chickens. Nineteen farms have been affected since December last year. No humans have died in South Korea from bird flu. Vietnam and Thailand, which have a different strain of bird flu, have had human deaths.