Fighting Avian Flu

[Anchor Lead]

The avian flu epidemic has been spreading quickly in Korea. The government has decided to disinfect farms across the nation and will soon set the date for issuing a nationwide ban on poultry transport.

[Pkg]

More than a hundred ducks have died on a single farm in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do Province. Test results have revealed that the birds were inflicted with avian influenza. Authorities have decided to cull some ten thousand ducks on the affected farm and more than three thousand hens on nearby farms.

[Soundbite] Chung Chul-myeon(Cheonan City Government) : "This farm was found to be prone to viruses brought by migratory birds, as it's located close to a creek."

The number of cities and counties affected by avian influenza has surged to ten. Five of them have been confirmed to have the highly pathogenic AI strain H5N6. So far, 520,000 ducks and hens on 32 farms have been culled. As the virus has been spreading quickly, the government has decided to disinfect all farms in the nation concurrently over two days.

[Soundbite] Kim Jae-soo(Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) : "It happened last year as well. We can't just keep blaming external factors such as migratory birds' feces."

Authorities were also considering issuing a nationwide ban on poultry transport, but its exact date and period will be discussed later, as poultry producers have doubted its efficacy.