South Korea confirmed its first bird flu outbreak in the Gyeonggi region near Seoul on Monday, raising concerns that the highly contagious disease is spreading across the country despite quarantine efforts.
The farm ministry said a duck farm in Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, tested positive for the virulent strain of the H5N1 avian influenza after birds started dying off over the weekend.
The case is the first to be reported in the province surrounding the capital city in nearly three years. Avian influenza is an airborne disease that can be transmitted to humans, although there has never been a case of a South Korean getting sick.
Authorities said the Anseong outbreak is the ninth confirmed in the country this winter after the first bird flu cases were confirmed by quarantine authorities on Dec. 31.
The initial outbreaks were all centered in the Jeolla region in the southwestern part of the country and South Chungcheong in the central western region.
"All 32,000 ducks on the (Anseong) farm have already been ordered destroyed on Sunday as a precautionary measure, with 55,000 other birds within a 500-meter radius to be culled," an official said.
He said other birds within a 10-kilometer area of the poultry farm will be barred from being sold on the market or moved, while front-line inspectors will carefully monitor birds for sharp hikes in sudden deaths and drops in egg production.
The ministry, meanwhile, said the latest confirmation brings the number of birds culled at infected farms alone to over 194,600, with many more being destroyed to prevent the spread of the bird flu.
South Korea has been hit by avian influenza three times before. Prior to the recent cases, the last outbreak occurred in April 2008 and resulted in a record 8.46 million birds being culled at a cost of around 264 billion won (US$234 million). Other previous outbreaks took place in the winter months of 2003-04 and 2006-07.