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Bird flu in South Korea unlikely to cause human infection
<!-- END HEADLINE --><!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->Sat Dec 16, 4:10 PM ET
The two bird flu outbreaks reported last month in South Korea were caused by a strain of the virus that has not led to any human infection, a senior official said.
Health authorities have culled 771,000 chickens near Iksan City, 230 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of Seoul, after two poultry farms were hit by the virus last month.
Kim Chang-Seob, chief veterinarian of the agriculture and fisheries ministry, said initial analyses of the samples from the two farms showed that the strain shares the same genetic characteristics as those found in western China.
"This means that the chances of the virus infecting human beings are slim," Chief Veterinarian Officer Kim Chang-Seob of the ministry said. [??] In May 2005, wild birds were infected by the same strain of virus in Qinghai, China's midwestern province. Bird flu outbreaks in Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan were also later caused by the same strain of H5N1 virus, the ministry said.
The government's efforts to curb the flu suffered a setback when a third outbreak was reported on Monday. The latest outbreak was reported from a farm in Gimjae, 260 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
The ministry said it had asked the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct further analyses on the first two samples to determine the possibility of human infection.
The analysis for the third outbreak will be carried out at the end of this month, it said.
Health authorities have completed the culling of 365,000 birds, mostly quails, in Gimje as of Saturday, Kim added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061216/hl_afp/skoreahealthflu
<!-- END HEADLINE --><!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->Sat Dec 16, 4:10 PM ET
The two bird flu outbreaks reported last month in South Korea were caused by a strain of the virus that has not led to any human infection, a senior official said.
Health authorities have culled 771,000 chickens near Iksan City, 230 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of Seoul, after two poultry farms were hit by the virus last month.
Kim Chang-Seob, chief veterinarian of the agriculture and fisheries ministry, said initial analyses of the samples from the two farms showed that the strain shares the same genetic characteristics as those found in western China.
"This means that the chances of the virus infecting human beings are slim," Chief Veterinarian Officer Kim Chang-Seob of the ministry said. [??] In May 2005, wild birds were infected by the same strain of virus in Qinghai, China's midwestern province. Bird flu outbreaks in Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan were also later caused by the same strain of H5N1 virus, the ministry said.
The government's efforts to curb the flu suffered a setback when a third outbreak was reported on Monday. The latest outbreak was reported from a farm in Gimjae, 260 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
The ministry said it had asked the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct further analyses on the first two samples to determine the possibility of human infection.
The analysis for the third outbreak will be carried out at the end of this month, it said.
Health authorities have completed the culling of 365,000 birds, mostly quails, in Gimje as of Saturday, Kim added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061216/hl_afp/skoreahealthflu
