SouthKorea to cull 3 percent of poultry to contain bird flu
Reuters.com
Tue Nov 29, 2016
South Korea will cull 3 percent of its total poultry population to curb an outbreak of bird flu that has hit a number of farms across the nation, its agriculture ministry said on Tuesday.
Since a severe strain of bird flu known as H5N6 cropped up on Nov. 18, Asia’s fourth-largest economy has stepped up its quarantine measures to contain the virus, including issuing a 48-hour nationwide standstill order for this last weekend.
Despite the efforts, Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that four new cases of H5N6 had been confirmed in central South Korea.
That brings the total number of infected birds to 13 since H5N6 appeared about two weeks ago, according to the statement. Nine other farm birds are also being tested for suspected infections, it said.
To contain the further spread of the virus, the ministry will slaughter at least 2.78 million birds, including 1.68 million that have already been culled, the ministry said.
That would be nearly 3.3 percent of South Korea’s total poultry population of 84.7 million.
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