EMERGENCY ORDER ON AVIAN INFLUENZA

[Anchor Lead]

Next up is updates on the highly pathogenic avian influenza that is spreading rapidly through the country. The government issued an additional emergency administrative order today. Yesterday alone, three farms in Gimpo, Gyeonggi-do Province and Yeongam, Jeollanam-do Province were found to be infected by AI, prompting the government to determine that the entire country is now at risk.

[Pkg]

Just yesterday alone, a layer poultry farm in Gimpo and two duck farms in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do Province were found to be infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza. The disease that first started in a duck farm in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do Province on November 26th has spread to 13 locations nationwide, including six farms in the neighboring Jeollanam-do Province, in just 17 days. This series of AI cases had prompted the government to issue a temporary travel ban on livestock transport vehicles and industry workers for 48 hours over the weekend. But bird flu cases were found in three more farms in that time. Concluding that Korea was on the verge of a nationwide spread, authorities decided to issue an emergency administrative order.
All outside vehicles, except for those carrying feed, animal waste, and compost, are banned from entering poultry farms all across the nation. The government concluded that the key to preventing an AI epidemic lies in stopping ‘horizontal transmissions’ among nearby farms.

[Soundbite] KIM DAE-GYUN(MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS) : "Now is the time to prevent horizontal transmission among farms. Just one violation of disease prevention rules can ruin the country’s entire quarantine network."

Transmission is not likely to die down as tens of thousands of migratory birds that may be virus carriers are due to arrive in Korea by mid-January. In that case, consumer prices of chicken and eggs, which remain stable for now, may spike.