17.01.2014

Provincial quarantine authorities began culling more than 20,000 ducks today after a preliminary test indicated a possible outbreak of avian influenza (AI), with the agriculture ministry saying it may be of a highly pathogenic strain.
A suspected AI case was reported yesterday at a poultry farm in Gochang, located some 300 kilometers southwest of Seoul in North Jeolla Province.
A DNA test is currently under way to confirm the outbreak and its exact strain, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The ministry said the test was expected to confirm an outbreak of highly pathogenic AI. The initial test confirmed it is a H5N8 strain. It is very likely to be determined as a highly pathogenic strain.
The provincial government of North Jeolla decided to take pre-emptive measures and cull all of the more than 20,000 ducks on the farm that reported the suspected case.
South Korea last reported an outbreak of AI in late 2011, which led to the culling of over 3 million poultry.