South Korea's West Coast Hit With Bird Flu Outbreak

A bird flu cluster focused in South Korea's west coast region, about 70-210km south of Seoul has the country's health officials on high alert. Extreme measures are now being taken to control the outbreak and prevent a deeper spread. Initial reports indicate that the outbreak has emanated from a farm where 200 chickens were found dead from a mild strain of bird flu which poses practically no threat to humans and likely originated from a migratory bird source.

However, despite the low pathogen of the H5N1 found the South Korean officials are taking no chances, ordering a massive cull of 236,000 chickens in the area. In addition to chickens, health officials are ordering an unspecified number of cats, dogs and pigs to be slaughtered, a move that is upsetting some animal experts who feel that it may be 'too extreme' given how little evidence we have of cats of dogs actually transmitting the virus to humans. A UN representative has gone on record expressing this viewpoint.

"It's highly unusual, and it's not a science-based decision ... We've got absolutely no reason to believe they're important"

South Korea is clearly taking a 'better safe than sorry' approach, and a minister in the country has responded to the criticism by suggesting that they are by no means alone in this extreme approach.

"Other countries do it. They just don’t talk about it"

South Korea to kill cats and dogs over bird flu fears [IHT]

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South Korea's West Coast Hit With Bird Flu Outbreak

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