31 December 2010
South Korea confirmed its first outbreak of avian influenza for more than two years, with more than 100,000 chickens culled and more than 10,000 ducks.
Two poultry farms, one in the central city of Cheonan and the other in the southwestern city of Iksan, were confirmed to have been contaminated by the H5N1 virus.
All the 10,700 ducks at the farm in Cheonan and 17,000 breeding chickens at the farm in Iksan have already been culled and buried, together with 92,000 chickens raised at nearby farms.
Both farms have been placed under quarantine, with movements of vehicles and people restricted.
It comes after Seoul confirmed three cases of the virulent H5N1 avian influenza strain from wild migratory birds that arrived in the country for the winter earlier in the month.
South Korea has been hit by avian influenza three times, with the last outbreak in April 2008.
In 2008, South Korea had to cull more than eight million birds to curb the virus, resulting in damages estimated at 194 million dollars at the time.
In the country’s 2003-2004 outbreak, 5.28 million birds were culled, while a 2006-2007 outbreak resulted in 2.8 million birds being destroyed.
Four people were confirmed to have been infected with the avian influenza virus in late 2003 in South Korea but they showed few symptoms.