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South Korean quarantine officials began slaughtering about 427,000 chickens Sunday as a precautionary measure after outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza at two farms, according to the agriculture ministry.
The cases of the highly pathogenic bird flu were reported at two chicken farms in Hwaseong, about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said.
However, the ministry did not give a specific time frame on when the quarantine officials will complete the culling.
This marks the 23rd and 24th cases of H5N1 found at poultry farms here this winter since Nov. 8.
The highly pathogenic influenza is very contagious among birds and can cause severe illness and even death, especially among poultry.
Quarantine officials slaughtered about 30 million poultry after an outbreak of avian influenza first reported between November 2020 and April 2021, according to data from Statistics Korea.
The number of laying chickens in South Korea came to 72.61 million in the October-December period, up 33,000 from the previous year. (Yonhap)
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