[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea is buying up chickens and ducks from tens of thousands of small poultry farms for state-controlled butchery and meat storage in an effort to combat the
fresh outbreak of bird flu that sparked concerns about mutated viruses.
Provincial governments will use state money to purchase chickens and ducks from small farms so that they can be slaughtered and kept as reserve meat, the agriculture ministry said. The purchase is not mandatory as provincial governments will buy up birds from voluntary applicants.
The spread of highly pathogenic avian flu began last week after a two-month lull. Health authorities staged frantic quarantine efforts at farms hit by a strain of H5N8 on the southern resort island of Jeju. The virus originated from a chicken farm in the southwestern port city of Gunsan.
The latest outbreak sparked concerns about mutated viruses as avian flu cannot survive in high temperatures and humidity.
South Korea's poultry industry is still reeling from an uncontrollable spread of H5N6 that left a record 37 million birds culled since it was reported first in November last year. No human infection has been reported but the virus caused a higher mortality rate than previous cases, a spike in egg prices and financial losses estimated at more than one trillion won (893 million US dollars).
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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