South Korea has culled some 11,000 ducks as a preventive measure after a poultry farm in Seoul reported the presence of bird flu and dozens of duck deaths.
Following investigations from the country's Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, the bird flu strain found in the ducks were identified as H5N8, the same one discovered in November last year. This subtype of the influenza A virus is deemed to be not as pathogenic as the H1N1.
An official from the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs told Reuters that all 11,604 affected ducks in Incheon, situated 50 miles east of the capital, had been slaughtered.
The discovery of bird flu in ducks comes with potentially grave consequences, as South Korea is currently in the middle of food safety concerns that include a foot and mouth disease outbreak detected in pigs last January.
The country has also recently resumed its poultry meat exports to Hong Kong — the first time in almost two years after it was declared free of avian influenza a month ago.
Since the confirmation of bird flu, South Korea has established measures to contain the bug. The agricultural ministry has issued an order — which will last until April 2 — banning all eggs and poultry from leaving any farm in the province of Gyeonggi.
There are also two disease-monitoring posts set up in its city, disinfecting all arriving and leaving vehicles until health authorities rule out any transmission risk.
Similar posts are positioned in the North Chungcheong Province. Jeju Island, too, has prohibited the entry of any eggs, birds, and poultry from Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province.
Infected birds shed the flu virus through their saliva, mucus and fecal matter, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While avian influenza A viruses do not infect humans, there are rare cases of mild to severe infection, when someone touches or breathes virus droplets or particles in the air.
In the United States, the H7N8 strain hit a commercial flock of turkeys at an Indiana farm back in January. It was the first confirmed bird flu case at a poultry farm since the multi-state outbreak that ravaged the country in 2015.
This strain, which remains a low-pathogenic kind that hardly sickens its host, is only one among numerous influenza strains designated by names and their ability to kill birds. Flu viruses go through mutations, with vaccines created fresh for every single strain.
Photo: Pal Nordseth | Flickr
