S.Korea to cull 3 percent of poultry to contain bird flu

E-Mart

29/11/2016 10:41

SEOUL, Nov 29 (Reuters) - South Korea will cull 3 percent of 
its total poultry population to curb an outbreak of bird flu 
that has hit a number of farms across the nation, its 
agriculture ministry said on Tuesday.  
    Since a severe strain of bird flu known as H5N6 cropped up 
on Nov. 18, Asia's fourth-largest economy has stepped up its 
quarantine measures to contain the virus, including issuing a 
48-hour nationwide standstill order for this last weekend. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1DQ1DK  
    Despite the efforts, Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food 
and Rural Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that four new 
cases of H5N6 had been confirmed in central South Korea.  
    That brings the total number of infected birds to 13 since 
H5N6 appeared about two weeks ago, according to the statement. 
Nine other farm birds are also being tested for suspected 
infections, it said.  
    To contain the further spread of the virus, the ministry 
will slaughter at least 2.78 million birds, including 1.68 
million that have already been culled, the ministry said.  
    That would be nearly 3.3 percent of South Korea's total 
poultry population of 84.7 million.  
    Sales of chicken, eggs and ducks at three major discount 
stores - E-Mart Inc  139480.KS , Lotte Mart and Homeplus Stores 
Co  ELARE.UL  - have not dropped as consumers know that poultry 
products are safe to eat as long as they are cooked properly, 
company spokesmen at the three retailers said.  
    Supplies of chicken and duck meat and eggs have not 
tightened, an agriculture ministry official said, but it would 
have to implement measures such as importing more to meet demand 
if the bird flu outbreak was prolonged.  
    South Korea's poultry supply is self-sufficient, but it 
still imports some chicken products, mainly from Brazil, Denmark 
and the United States.  
    South Korea's bird flu outbreak comes amid a growing number 
of cases in several other countries, including France and 
Germany. Besides South Korea, the other most recent cases were 
reported on Friday in Japan, the first outbreak of avian flu 
there in nearly two years.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1DU1H3  
    Cases of human infections from the H5N6 virus have 
previously been reported elsewhere, with the virus killing at 
least 10 people in China since April 2014. No cases of human 
infection have been detected in South Korea.  
     
 
 (Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Tom Hogue) 
 ((jane.chung@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5667; Reuters 
Messaging: jane.chung.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: HEALTH BIRDFLU/SOUTHKOREA