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we begin with the latest on a bird flu outbreak here in korea...
it's been more than five days now... since the h5n8 strain of avian influenza was discovered
on two farms in the southern part of the country .
officials went on high-alert and even hal ted the movement of livestock.
kwon soa has this report on the first avian influenza case since 2011. korea is in fear
of a nationwide bird flu spread. one of the biggest questions since ai broke
out late last week is probably the origin of the virus.
now authorities are saying the baikal teal a migratory type of duck may be the source
that brought the bird flu here.
investigation results have revealed that dead migratory birds collected on january 17th
were infected with the h5n8 strain of avian influenza.
while the government's first ever 48-hour standstill on the movement of any livestock
and farm workers was lifted at the start of tuesday it is remaining on high alert.
if migratory birds are confirmed to be the infectors the virus could spread or may have
already spread to other regions in the southern part of the country or even elsewhere.
on monday three more farms were suspected of having ducks carrying the virus calling
for more preventive measures. around 1-hundred-20-thousand ducks have been
culled so far and more ducks and chickens could be killed in the coming days.
sterilization locations have been increased and the military as well as the police are
chipping in by controlling traffic at restricted locations and supplying sterilization equipment
. also the national assembly's agriculture committee
will meet in sejong city on thursday to discuss the matter.
the ministry of environment has said it will be tracking the baikal teal's route via gps
. meanwhile there have been questions about
whether it is safe to eat poultry and eggs .
in fact consumers have purchased less poultry products over the last couple of days.
health authorities say however that food products are safe because there is hardly any chance
that the infected products will enter the market and even if they do the virus is destroyed
once cooked. kwon soa arirang news.