December 30, 2016 10:49
The bird flu outbreak appears to be slowly retreating after millions of poultry were culled.
There was only one new suspected case on Tuesday and none on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Thursday. It was the first day there have been no suspected new cases since Nov. 17, when the pandemic started.
Some 27.65 million birds had been culled by Wednesday, but numbers have not been rising dramatically in recent days.
Quarantine authorities found two farms suspected of being contaminated with the avian flu virus in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province and Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province on Wednesday, but they are already within the 3 km risk radius of affected farms.
They are therefore not counted as new suspected cases, according to the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Meanwhile, several wild birds infected with bird flu have been found in North Gyeongsang Province, and the first case of bird flu was confirmed at a farm in Incheon.
"It's still too early to let our guard down and we're still keeping close watch on the situation," a ministry official said. "The virus can spread faster in winter and that wild birds keep migrating."
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