SEOUL, – South Korea on Monday confirmed a highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) case at a duck farm for the first time during this winter season, the agriculture ministry said.
The H5 AI strain was found at the duck farm in the southwestern county of Goheung the previous day, and a follow-up test confirmed the highly pathogenic H5N1 AI strain, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The country last reported an avian influenza case at a poultry farm around April this year.
Upon the report, the authorities cordoned off the farm and have implemented quarantine measures, including the culling of more than 20,000 ducks raised there, as a preventive step.
They also issued a stand-still order for 36 hours through 11 p.m. on Tuesday.
There exists no other poultry farms within a 3-kilometer radius of the farm, the ministry said. It is a must to cull poultry within a 500-meter radius of an affected farm as part of precautionary measures.
On Friday, the government raised the warning level against the avian influenza from “attention” to “serious” and has enforced stronger quarantine measures after the H5N1 strain was found from wild birds in the southwestern city of Jeonju.
Source: Yonhap News Agency