Bird flu hits S.Korean farm again

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Bird flu hits S.Korean farm again

Bird flu has again hit a poultry farm in southeastern South Korea, killing 9,000 chickens, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry confirmed Tuesday.

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Bird flu has again hit a poultry farm in southeastern South Korea, killing 9,000 chickens, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry confirmed Tuesday.

It is the nation's first confirmed outbreak in nine days, increasing the number of confirmed cases to 16 since the first outbreak on Dec. 15.

Authorities started an investigation last Saturday after a farmer in Yangsan, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, reported that chickens at the farm died of unknown causes.

"The suspected case proved positive for the bird flu virus," said Kim Chang-seob, chief of the animal health division at the ministry. "We will make all-out efforts to prevent the spread of the disease."

The remaining 9,000 chickens on the farm were slaughtered and access to the farm was restricted while tests were conducted in the area, according to the ministry.

Kim also said that the government imposed a ban on chicken imports from Japan on Monday after it was reported that about 6,000 chickens died from bird flu at a farm in Japan's Yamaguchi prefecture, the first outbreak in the nation in 79 years.

The H5N1 virus, which raged through South Korea last month, appeared to have been brought under control at the beginning of the new year after about 1.6 million chickens and ducks were culled as an effort to prevent the spread of the disease.

Since the bird flu was first discovered in South Korea on Dec.15, chickens and ducks at 16 farms have been tested positive for the virus.

There are, however, no signs that the disease has crossed the species barrier to humans in South Korea. None of the more than 1,500 people who were exposed to the flu have shown any symptoms, health officials said.

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