S.Korea suspects bird flu found at a second farm
The Star, 29 Nov 2006

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's farm ministry said on Tuesday it had found a suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu at a second poultry farm, after confirming on Saturday it had its first outbreak in three years of the H5N1 strain. 

The ministry said about 200 chickens at a farm near where the first case had been found in North Cholla province had died this week. The farms in the southwest of the country lie on a path for migratory birds. 

"The results of our testing should be known late this afternoon," said an official at the ministry. 

The ministry is also checking to see if the H5N1 virus, which is potentially deadly to human beings, has spread through the country. 

South Korea had by Monday completed culling 75,500 poultry within a 500 metre radius of the farm in North Cholla province about 170 km south from Seoul. It plans to destroy a remaining 160,500 birds in the same area by Thursday. 

There were no reports to suggest local residents or quarantine officials had been infected, another Agriculture Ministry official said by telephone. 

Between December 2003 and March 2004, about 400,000 poultry at South Korean farms were infected by bird flu. During that outbreak, the country culled 5.3 million birds and spent about 1.5 trillion won ($1.6 billion) to prevent the disease spreading, officials said. 

Subsequent testing in the United States indicated at least nine South Korean workers involved in the cull had been infected with the H5N1 virus, but none developed major illnesses. 

Since 2003, outbreaks have been confirmed in around 50 countries and territories, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.