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Other possible cases of avian flu virus have been reported at farms just outside the boundary where the virus was first detected.
Two livestock raisers from Eumseong-gun Daeso-myeon claiming in a report that they had livestock possibly infected with the virus, and the investigation was immediately launched, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) said Friday. The results of the investigation are to be released today.
On December 10, the government declared the 3-kilometer radius around the farm in Samsung-myeon to be a "contaminated zone" and the 3 to 10-kilometers area a "warning zone." The flu was first discovered in Samsung. The avian flu is deadly for all winged animals. Three cases occurred within the contaminated zone. The report from Eumseong is the first to come from outside the boundary line. Most chickens and ducks with the virus are slaughtered. Ducks, in particule, show no symptoms of bird flu, yet can transmit the virus to chickens, and even to humans. In 1997, six people died of the A/H5N1 avian flu virus in Hong Kong.
All of the 400,000 ducks within the "warning zone" are to be slaughtered if farms in Daeso are found contaminated with the virus, the ministry said.
The head of MAF, Huh Sang-man, said during a policy meeting of the Uri Party that it now seems that ducks were the original source of infection. Huh said that 400 samples of feces from the infected animals are being scrutinized to find the cause of the disease. The results will be made public soon, Huh said.
Huh said that since ducks are generally raised only in China and Korea, not many resources and studies are available. Chickens and ducks within the 3-kilometer area have been slaughtered to prevent further infection, and 16 control centers were established to work on quarantine within the 10-kilometer area.
(Bang Seong-su, ssbang@chosun.com )
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