New case of bird flu in S. Korea

SEOUL (S. Korea) - South Korea confirmed yesterday the first new case of bird flu in more than a week, dashing hopes that an outbreak of the highly contagious strain of the flu may be subsiding.



Concern has risen about the outbreak of bird flu, which can be deadly to humans in rare cases, and which has also hit other Asian countries.



The Agriculture Ministry confirmed in a statement the latest outbreak in South Korea was at a chicken farm in Yangsan, about 380km south-east of the capital Seoul.


The authorities had completed the slaughter of 18,000 birds at the farm in Yangsan which had not died from the disease, officials said.



About 900,000 more chickens and ducks at 30 farms within a 3km radius of the farm would also be killed.



About 1.8 million birds have been culled since the start of the outbreak was first reported on Dec 10, the Agriculture Ministry said.



Including yesterday's case, 16 outbreaks have been reported so far.



The disease is caused by the H5N1 virus, the type that infected and killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997.



In Japan, the highly virulent strain of the H5 virus - in the same category as the H5N1 virus - has killed 6,000 chickens at a poultry farm in Yamaguchi prefecture since Dec 28, the Agricultural Ministry said on Monday.



The prefectural government said it had ordered the slaughter of all the farm's chickens, while banning other farms located within a 30km radius from shipping or moving chickens or eggs.



Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he was concerned over the impact of the country's first outbreak of bird flu in 79 years because it was not clear whether it poses a risk to humans.