Quarantine officials decontaminate a vehicle near a duck farm in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, where a second case of avian influenza broke out in less than a week, Sunday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
The authorities have issued their highest alert warning for avian influenza after two cases were reported in the southwest of the country.
Quarantine measures have been taken to prevent the bird flu from spreading further, but the authorities are having difficulty finding the source of the epidemic.
The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has slaughtered 300,000 chickens and ducks at farms in Gimje and Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province, and is restricting the transport of poultry in nearby regions.
The measures come after 6,000 ducks that died at a farm in Jeongeup were confirmed to be positive for the bird flu virus Saturday. Whether the virus involves the lethal H5N1 strain will be confirmed Monday.
It is the second outbreak of avian influenza this year, with the first one reported two days earlier at a chicken farm in Gimje. The two farms are 27 kilometers apart.
Restrictions have been placed on the transport of poultry as well as equipment and vehicles used at poultry farms within a radius of 10 kilometers of the outbreak sites.
More than 6,500 ducks from the farm, sent to an abattoir in Naju, South Jeolla Province, were not distributed to the market. The abattoir was closed for decontamination operations, while preventive measures were taken at the 13 poultry farms where vehicles that transported the ducks visited later.
Another duck farm in nearby Sunchang was quarantined Sunday as 50 ducks there have died daily over the past 10 days. Authorities are examining the case but said the chances of bird flu are low, as the ducks did not have any of the characteristic symptoms.
In the meantime, the ministry is having difficulty discovering how the avian influenza is being spread in the region. Previous cases occurred in winter, so authorities suspected migratory birds might be the culprit as many are still here.
Quarantine officials are checking the health of 11 foreign workers from Mongolia, Vietnam and China who were working at the Gimje poultry farm where the epidemic originated.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
|
