S Korea to declare itself free of bird flu

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/36543a45-www.wlos.com.shtml

SKorea to declare itself free of bird flu
August 17, 2008 04:14 EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- An official in South Korea says his country is about to announce it's free of bird flu.

It's been more than three months since a series of outbreaks led authorities to slaughter about 8.5 million birds.

An Agriculture Ministry official says the declaration will be made tomorrow and reported to a world organization for animal health the same day.

Under the organization's regulations, a country can officially declare itself free of the disease if no new cases have been found for three months.

In early April, South Korea confirmed the first outbreak of a deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in chickens on a southern farm in more than a year. The disease swept southern parts of the country.

Bird flu remains hard for people to catch, but health experts worry the virus could mutate to pass easily between humans, possibly triggering a global pandemic.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: SKorea to declare itself free of bird flu

Re: SKorea to declare itself free of bird flu

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/17/content_9435584.htm

S Korea declares itself bird flu-free zone
www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-17 17:35:35

SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean government said Sunday that the country is a bird flu "clean zone" after three months without a confirmed case of the bird flu virus.

"Under OIE (the World Organization for Animal Health) rules, we can declare South Korea 'clean' three months after the last quarantine measures have been implemented," said Kim Chang-seob, the chief veterinary officer of South Korea's Agriculture Ministry.

South Korea technically became a bird flu free country as of Friday, Kim added.

The declaration is in accordance with guidelines set by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and follows detailed tests conducted on 1,829 poultry farms throughout the country in May and June, the ministry said.

Following the declaration, South Korea will seek talks with Japan and other countries to resume poultry exports, Kim said.

This year's outbreak of bird flu was the most serious in the country's history. Since the first outbreak was reported on April 1, 8.46 million birds had been culled.