South Korea slaughters thousands of pigs to stem spread of bird flu

MHSC · Dec 23, 2006

South Korea slaughters thousands of pigs to stem spread of bird flu

The Associated Press
Published: December 23, 2006

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SEOUL, South Korea: South Korean quarantine workers slaughtered thousands of pigs on Sunday, as the country struggles to stem the spread of bird flu, an official said Saturday.

Nearly 4,200 pigs were killed at a farm in Asan, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Seoul, where a case of bird flu ? South Korea's fourth in less than a month ? broke out last week, said Yoon Chang-hee, an official at the South Chungcheong provincial government.

Yoon declined to give a reason for the measure, only saying there was an Agriculture Ministry instruction to cull all pigs within 500 meters (547 yards) of the outbreak site.

Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment, but Yonhap news agency said pigs are vulnerable to respiratory diseases and could spread viruses.

In the first two bird flu outbreaks last month, South Korea slaughtered pigs, dogs and 14 unspecified animals within a 3-kilometer (1.9 miles) radius of the outbreak sites in Iksan, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Seoul.

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Yoon also said about 2,000 chickens were slaughtered Saturday at a farm near the latest outbreak site.

That brought the number of chickens and ducks culled in the latest outbreak to 25,000. More than 1.1 million poultry had been killed in the earlier three outbreaks that hit the country since late last month.

South Korea slaughtered about 5.3 million birds during a bird outbreak in 2003.

Infections among people have been traced to contact with infected birds, but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that could create a pandemic among humans.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/24/asia/AS_GEN_SKorea_Bird_Flu.php

  
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AlaskaDenise · Dec 23, 2006

Re: South Korea slaughters thousands of pigs to stem spread of bird flu

.....slaughtered pigs, dogs and 14 unspecified animals within a 3-kilometer (1.9 miles) radius.....

Interesting....I wonder about the criteria for that decision. An abundance of caution?

.

MHSC · Dec 23, 2006

Re: South Korea slaughters thousands of pigs to stem spread of bird flu

S Korea combats virus by slaughtering more birds

AP, SEOUL
Sunday, Dec 24, 2006, Page 5

Asian countries scrambled to limit the spread of bird flu following a fresh outbreak among poultry in South Korea

Meanwhile, health officials from the WHO welcomed a significant drop in the number of human deaths from the H5N1 virus in Indonesia.

South Korean quarantine officials completed the slaughter of 23,000 poultry yesterday within 3km of the outbreak site on a duck farm in Asan, about 90km south of Seoul, Agriculture Ministry official Lee Joo-won said.

South Korea has reported four outbreaks in less than a month, worrying health officials.

The ministry confirmed that the outbreak involved the H5 strain, but said further tests were needed to determine whether it was the deadly H5N1 virus.

Authorities have ordered the slaughter of more than 1 million birds in an attempt to keep the disease from spreading to more farms.

Although some complained, South Korean farmers have been largely cooperative in the slaughter because the government has compensated them financially.

But in Vietnam, which this week reported its first bird flu outbreak in a year, some poultry farmers have been unwilling to comply with a slaughter ordered by the government, despite the danger it poses to their own health and to other domesticated and wild flocks.

More than 6,000 chickens and ducklings have died from H5N1 in the past two weeks in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces.

At least 154 people have died from H5N1 worldwide, according to the WHO.
Most of those who have died came into direct contact with infected birds.
Experts fear, however, that the virus could mutate into a form that becomes easily passed among people and thus potentially spark a quick and dangerous pandemic.

Indonesia, the nation worst hit by H5N1, also initially balked at slaughtering birds in infected areas and vaccinating flocks, citing a lack of funds.
International experts have accused the country of not doing enough to tackle the virus.

But it recently launched a large-scale public education campaign that included the use of TV commercials to urge people to wash their hands after coming into contact with poultry.

The authorities are also working to convice farmers to report sick or dying birds to officials.

The aggressive campaign has apparently paid off, with the number of human deaths in Indonesia from the virus slowing markedly over the last three months.
But WHO said it was too soon to draw conclusions.

Stopping the spread in Indonesia, a sprawling island nation with a population of around 220 million people, is a priority because it has been the only country regularly reporting new human cases.

This story has been viewed 2 times.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/12/24/2003341758

AlaskaDenise · Dec 24, 2006

Re: South Korea slaughters thousands of pigs to stem spread of bird flu

http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Birdfluscare&slug=S+Korea+slaughters+thousands+of+pigs&id=98435&callid=1

S Korea slaughters thousands of pigs

Associated Press

Sunday, December 24, 2006 (Seoul):

South Korean quarantine workers slaughtered thousands of pigs on Sunday as the country struggles to stem the spread of bird flu.

Nearly 4,200 pigs were killed at a farm in Asan, about 90 km south of Seoul, where a case of bird flu broke out last week.

This is the country's fourth case of bird flu in less than a month.

Yoon Chang-hee, an official at the South Chungcheong provincial government, said there was an Agriculture Ministry instruction to cull all pigs within 500 meters of the outbreak site.

Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment, but Yonhap news agency said pigs are vulnerable to respiratory diseases and could spread viruses.

.

Gert van der Hoek · Dec 24, 2006

Re: South Korea slaughters thousands of pigs to stem spread of bird flu

Pigs, Chickens Culled As Bird Flu Spreads

Quarantine officials yesterday culled more than 4,000 pigs and 2,000 chickens in Asan, South Chungchong province, the site of the latest outbreak of avian influenza.

According to the province, about 100 quarantine officials were dispatched early Sunday to cull 4,177 pigs from one pig farm located within a 500-meter radius of the outbreak site and 2,000 chickens from one farm located about 3-kilometers away.

Consequently, after the fourth outbreak of highly virulent bird flu was found in Asan late Thursday, about 21,000 ducks, 2,820 chickens and 4,177 pigs have been culled there.

``Although pigs were originally exempted as subjects for quarantine measures along with dogs, since they are vulnerable to respiratory diseases and might transmit a transformed strain of the virus, we have decided to cull pigs within 500-meter radius of the infected zone,???? said an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

He emphasized that it was a measure to block any possibility for further spread of the infection.

``I accepted the government??s proposal to slaughter my pigs as they said that all the poultry within 500-meter radius from the outbreak site should be slaughtered to block any possibility of the spread of the virus according to quarantine regulations,???? said the owner of a pig farm, only identified by his last name Koo. ``However, I expect proper compensation from the government for my loss.????

Also, quarantine officials have collected 1,000 samples of excrement from migratory birds near affected areas, including Chonsu Bay and Pungse Stream, to find out if the virus is present in them.

In addition, they have blocked the transportation of rice straw in farmlands located near the habitats of migratory birds in the region. Experts have been claiming that feeding rice straw to cows from farmlands near habitats of migratory birds should be blocked since the possibility that migratory birds could be the source of the bird flu has not been ruled out yet.

Hundred tones of rice straw from farmlands that are located near habitats of migratory birds such as Chonsu Bay, Sapkyo Lake, Sokmun Lake and Kumgang Bank have been supplied to farmlands nearby to be fed to their livestock on a daily basis until the government??s move.

The government has also banned the movement of chickens, ducks and eggs within a 10-km radius of the affected area.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200612/kt2006122419054668040.htm

South Korea slaughters thousands of pigs to stem spread of bird flu

MHSC

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AlaskaDenise

In Memoriam

MHSC

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AlaskaDenise

In Memoriam

Gert van der Hoek

In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator