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An outbreak of the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed to have reached Seoul on Tuesday, when the result of an investigation into the cause of death of pheasants and chickens at a small aviary run by the Gwangjin District Office in the east of the capital was released.
The outbreak, which started in North Jeolla Province on April 1, has now spread over the entire country except Jeju Island. There have been two nationwide outbreaks of bird flu in Korea, but this is the first time the virus was detected in Seoul.
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Staff fumigate aviaries at the ChildrenĄ¯s Grand Park in Seoul on Tuesday after an outbreak of bird flu in the capital was reported.
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The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced the pheasants and chickens died of the H5N1 strain, which is transmissible to human beings. The Ministry said the virus came through a market in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, where the district office purchased the pheasants on April 24. The Gwangjin District Office on April 28 asked the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) to investigate the cause of death as four of 57 pheasants, turkeys, and chickens in the aviary suddenly died.
The government took immediate quarantine measures, killing some of the poultry in the ChildrenĄ¯s Grand Park, only 1.2 km away from the district office, and in Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province 10 km away. The government said it is safe to eat even infected chicken, duck and eggs if cooked for more than five minutes at a temperature of 75 degrees Celsius or higher.
Meanwhile, a case of what seems to be H5N1 was reported in Chuncheon, Gwangwon Province, on Tuesday, and a thorough investigation is now underway. This brings the total number of H5N1 cases to 34 since the first outbreak on April 1. No human infections have been found.
Since December 2003, 379 people have been infected with bird flu in 14 countries including Vietnam and Thailand, and 239 of them have died.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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