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As outbreaks of Asian bird flu appear to be sweeping across the nation, as two more duck farms in South Jeolla Province reported Monday having fowl showing symptoms of the flu. Pig cholera was also reported in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MOAF) said Monday that it is conducting inspections on duck farms in Naju and Suncheon cities in South Jeolla Province, as reports of suspected avian flu have been filed there.
The two cases adds up to a total of five new farms currently under inspection. So far, nine farms have been confirmed to be contaminated by the flu. With 49 percent of Korea¡¯s duck ranches in South Jeolla Province, an outbreak in the area could deal a huge blow to the duck meat industry.
The farm in Naju that filed a report on Monday is close to another duck farm in Naju where bird flu was found Saturday. The farm in Suncheon brought in ducklings from "H" duck farm in Cheonan, where the flu was discovered last Thursday.
A farm in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province and a farm in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province that were suspected of having the flu since last Thursday were found not to be contaminated.
In addition, MOAF announced that it has slaughtered 500 of the 1,600 pigs that were found to be infected with cholera in Gimhae.
The government carried out the preventive inoculation of pigs starting in March, when pig cholera began to spread nationwide. But cholera managed to spread to his pigs that were not inoculated in spring.
An official at MOAF said that the pigs were excluded from the pig cholera preventive inoculation that took place this spring. Since most of other pigs in the country were inoculated in spring, there is a slim chance of the outbreak spreading, he said.
(Lee Dong-huck, dong@chosun.com )
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