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 The government said on Tuesday that 28 cases of the H5N6 strain of
bird flu had been confirmed since mid-November, with another 10
possible cases being investigated.
It added that if the virus continued to spread, the government could
issue a so-called 'standstill order' to prevent workers from the
poultry industry moving around the country. That would follow
similar temporary restrictions that were introduced over a weekend
in late November.
The agriculture ministry said in a statement that 4.4 million farm
birds had been slaughtered as of Tuesday, with another 2.6 million
expected to be culled. That would be over 8 percent of the country's
poultry population of nearly 85 million.
Supplies of chicken, eggs and duck meat have not tightened as of
yet, an agriculture ministry official said, but chicken prices are
expected to fall as consumer worries grow.
Producer prices for chickens stood at 1,690 won ($1.44) per kilogram
as of Tuesday, down 4.5 percent from the November average of 1,770
won/kg, according to data from the Korea Broiler Council.
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Cases of human infections from the H5N6 virus have previously been
reported elsewhere, with the virus killing at least 10 people in
China since April 2014. No cases of human infections have been
reported in South Korea.
Japan has been culling poultry due to the discovery of a different
form of bird flu there, while a series of cases have also been found
in Europe.
(Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Joseph Radford)
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