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The spread of bird flu appears to be growing more serious. After the first case was reported in Gimje, North Jeolla Province on April 1, there have been back-to-back reports of the virus in neighboring areas. On Thursday, a farm in Yeongwon township in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province reported an outbreak of the virus, followed by another one in Sunchang in the same province on Saturday. On Sunday, Gobu township, also in Jeongeup, reported an outbreak, and on Monday, it was a duck farm in Gimje. There are now concerns that the virus may have spread to other regions after it was confirmed that five trucks carrying ducks from the farm in Yeongwon traveled to 13 other farms in both North and South Jeolla Province.
Bird flu can lead to tremendous damage if it is not contained during the initial stage. When there was an outbreak during 2003 and 2004, 5.2 million chicken had to be culled. It was five days after an entire chicken farm was wiped out in North Chungcheong Province that the first report of suspected bird flu was filed to health officials. And it took another five days until lab tests came out positive. This time, chickens were wiped out at the poultry farm in Gimje on March 27, and the first report was filed five days later. In Jongeup, the first report was filed three days after ducks were wiped out at the farm. And it wasn¡¯t until a week after poultry at both farms were dead that final test results showed they were the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu. This makes it difficult to contain the infection at an early stage.
The Jeonbuk Veterinary Service, which received the report from the duck farm in Jeongeup last Thursday, asked the National Veterinary Research Quarantine Service for a thorough examination. But the veterinary service did not even bother to notify the government of North Jeolla Province, which is responsible for disinfection and quarantine procedures. North Jeolla Province began quarantine and disinfection at the suspected farms Friday night, after hearing the announcement from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. How can bird flu be prevented from spreading when authorities are unable to coordinate anything?
What¡¯s most important is to create a culture where the detection of suspicious cases of bird flu is reported immediately to health officials. For that to happen, farmers must be assured that they will be fully compensated for any culled poultry. Health officials and farmers must cooperate closely, so there is no repeat of the disaster of 2003 and 2004.
Even chicken and ducks infected with bird flu cannot harm humans if their meat is cooked properly. The government must thoroughly inform the public about this fact so that consumers do not panic.
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