By Kim Bo-eun
The Agriculture Ministry raised its avian influenza alert level Sunday and ordered a nationwide ban on the selling of raw chicken at markets starting today.
The measure comes after a suspected outbreak of the virus on Jeju Island and in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. This follows the nation’s worst outbreak over the winter, which resulted in the culling of a record 33 million birds.
Concern has been growing over the possibility the disease may spread to the entire country during the summer, thus leading to another massive culling of chickens and ducks, and a second spiraling of prices of poultry products and eggs.
According to the ministry, a small poultry farm in Jeju City, Jeju Island, bought five silkie chickens from a traditional market there May 27, but they all died two days later. On Friday, the farm confirmed the deaths of three additional chickens, prompting it to file a report of suspected bird flu.
Authorities confirmed it was the H5N8 strain but have yet to determine whether it is highly pathogenic.
The silkie chickens were from a farm in Gunsan which breeds around 15,000 birds a year. The chickens were sold at a Jeju market after being kept at another farm on the island.
The Gunsan farm was found to have also sold silkie chickens to farms in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.
Chickens at the farm in Paju tested positive for avian influenza in a simple test.
The ministry culled 30,000 chickens at 19 farms on Jeju, and in Gunsan, Paju and Yangsan.
It has yet to identify the route in which the chickens at the Gunsan farm were infected.
The Gunsan farm had its poultry undergo a bird flu test in March, and they tested negative.
Avian flu outbreaks usually occur during the winter or spring, when migratory birds fly in from China.
It is rare for the virus to be found in the summer, because it does not endure high temperatures and humidity.
Although the H5N8 strain does not spread as fast as the H5N6 strain, which was rampant in winter, it has a long incubation period.
Additional outbreaks of avian influenza could drive up the prices of chickens and eggs, which have already surged due to the earlier winter outbreak, further.
If the ministry confirms the strains from the Jeju and Gunsan farms are highly pathogenic, it will raise the avian flu alert to the highest level and strengthen disinfection measures.