All poultry in Seoul killed after bird flu outbreak
Pastor Dale Morgan
All poultry in Seoul killed after bird flu outbreak*
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
The Associated Press
Monday, May 12, 2008; 5:03 AM
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean officials said Monday they have
killed all poultry in Seoul, the capital, to curb the spread of bird flu
following a new outbreak of the disease in the city.
Quarantine officials destroyed 15,000 chickens, ducks, pheasants and
turkeys raised in farms, restaurants, schools and homes in the capital,
said Kim Yoon-kyu, a Seoul Metropolitan Government official.
The Seoul government said the slaughter was necessary to contain the
disease. It said it will now focus on preventing live poultry from being
brought into the capital.
The slaughter began Sunday night, hours after authorities confirmed
Seoul's second outbreak of bird flu in less than a week.
The slaughter did not affect parrots, parakeets and canaries because
they have little chance of spreading the disease, Kim said.
Government tests were under way to determine whether the outbreak was
caused by the virulent H5N1 virus, said Kim Chang-seop, an official at
the Agriculture Ministry. He said test results would be available as
early as Monday night.
Outside Seoul, two outbreaks of the H5N1 virus were reported Sunday in
poultry farms in Busan and Ansung, Kim said. He said it was the first
time the virus has been found in Busan, the country's second largest city.
They were the 27th and 28th confirmed outbreaks of the H5N1 virus,
Agriculture Ministry spokesman Yoon Young-ku said.
Bird flu began sweeping southern parts of the country last month for the
first time in more than a year, forcing the slaughter of about 6.8
million birds.
The virus remains hard for people to catch, but scientists worry it
could mutate into a form that spreads more easily between humans, with
the potential to kill millions worldwide.
Worldwide, at least 241 people have died from bird flu since 2003,
according to the World Health Organization. Most human cases have been
linked to contact with infected poultry.