Bird flu infects dog

No need to worry about transmission to humans: ministry

By Kim Se-jeong

Avian influenza has been detected in a dog at a duck farm in Goseong, South Gyeongsang Province, which reported an outbreak of the poultry disease last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Monday.

A sample test showed the dog might have been infected with the virus after eating infected ducks at the farm. There were three dogs at the farm, but the other two dogs tested negative, which means there was no dog-to-dog transmission, the ministry said.

Quarantine officials conducted health checks on all 477 farmers living near the affected poultry farm, but no one tested positive.

According to the ministry, the dog was carrying the H5N8 strain of the virus.

This is the second time that a dog has been with the virus in Korea following the first case in March last year. This is the first case involving the H5N8 strain, however.

All the ducks and dogs in the farm have been culled, the ministry said, adding that there is little possibility of the virus being transmitted to humans.

“We didn't find antibodies to the virus in the body, but the dog did not show any symptoms,” Chu Lee-seok, the chief quarantine official, said. “There is no need to worry about human transmission.”

No case of human transmission has been reported in Korea as yet.

The first case of trans-species transmission in Korea took place in March last year in Cheonan, South Chungcheon Province. The authorities detected antibodies to the H5N1 antigen in a dog at the farm ― the dog was put down immediately.

Nearly 1.85 million animals, mostly ducks and chickens, have been culled since the latest outbreak of bird flu was reported in September, according to the ministry.