06.02.2014

South Korea has culled 2 per cent of its poultry population of 160 million to rein in the spread of avian influenza, which is affecting an increasing number of farms.

South Korea’s first case of H5N8 avian influenza, was found on January 17 at a duck farm in North Jeolla, a province about 300km southwest of the capital, Seoul.
Fifteen poultry farms have been hit and 19 cases of the disease have shown up in migratory birds, prompting the slaughter of 2.8 million farm birds.

Sales of chicken in one of Seoul’s largest markets dropped 57 per cent last week, while egg sales fell almost 36 per cent and those of duck meat nearly 79 per cent.