Poultry nationwide exposed to bird flu: quarantine officials

Poultry nationwide exposed to bird flu: quarantine officials. January. 01, 2011 13:09. imsun@donga.com.

Bird flu cases were confirmed Friday in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, and Iksan, North Jeolla Province, placing the government on high alert since the disease can affect both animals and humans.

This is the first time for Korea to be hit by foot and mouth disease and bird flu at the same time.

The Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said inspections on suspected cases of bird flu at a duck farm in Cheonan and a chicken farm in Iksan found that they are a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu.

The deadly strain was also detected the same day in dead mallards in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province.

The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu is lethal to poultry and highly contagious and has a high mortality rate.

The ministry raised its alert level for bird flu from “attention” to “caution” in accordance with an emergency countermeasure manual. The alert system consists of four stages: attention, caution, warning and serious.

A countermeasures center for bird flu was also set up. Prior to this, quarantine authorities had culled more than 10,000 ducks and 11,000 chickens in the affected farms in Cheonan and Iksan.

The government designated areas within a 3-kilometer radius from the affected farms as risky zones and those within a 10-kilometer radius as caution zones to disinfect the areas and restrict movement of poultry, such as chickens and ducks.

Lee Sang-gil, head of the ministry`s food industry policy, said, “Our investigation into the affected farms found that transport vehicles for duck eggs went to the affected farms and four hatcheries in Cheonan,” adding, “We are limiting access to the hatcheries and investigating the possible spread of the disease.”

Serum tests will be conducted on all chickens and ducks in farms within a 10-kilometer radius from the affected farms.

Lee said, “The latent period of bird flu for ducks is longer than a week, so we need more close inspections.”

Quarantine authorities said the possibility is high that bird flu spread to areas outside Cheonan and Iksan.

A quarantine official said, “The highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza was detected from four wild birds, which are the main culprit of the spread of the virus,” adding, “We should think that poultry nationwide have been virtually exposed to the disease.”

The Agriculture Ministry also predicted a reduction in poultry consumption since bird flu affects both animals and humans.

A ministry official said, “Humans are not infected by the disease through consumption of ducks and chickens.” Yet if humans come into contact with infected birds and their feces, they can develop the disease.

According to the World Health Organization, 447 people worldwide have been affected by bird flu since 2003 and 263 of them died.

With the confirmation of bird flu in poultry, Korea has lost its status as a clean country for bird flu and will face difficulty exporting raw chickens.

Quarantine authorities will also vaccinate cattle in the four regions affected by foot and mouth disease.

Hoengseong had opposed the vaccination for fear that its image as a Korean beef hub will be tainted, but agreed after pigs at one of its farms was confirmed to have infected with the disease.

With the agreement, more than 36,000 heads of cattle in more than 1,670 farms within a 10-kilometer radius from the affected farms will be vaccinated.

As of Friday, the number of areas vaccinated against food and mouth disease rose to 10 cities and provinces. Additional reports of the disease came in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and Yanggu, Gangwon Province.