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Less than a week before the three-day harvest festival of Chuseok, which is Korea’s biggest national holiday, H5N8 Avian flu has apparently been detected in samples taken from live market ducks sold in two cities in South Jeolla Province.
After a quiet summer on the bird flu front, this marks the second HPAI announcement out of South Korea in the past 3 days (see Korea Confirms Two Outbreaks Of Avian Flu), and may herald an early start to their bird flu season.
Although we’ve never seen human infection with this particular subtype/strain of avian flu, the finding of it in the food chain just prior to the start of Chuseok is nonetheless considered a serious matter. The Korean Ministry of Agriculture (MAFRA) promises another press conference later today.
This from KBS news.
Avian Influenza Confirmed in South Jeolla Province
Write : 2015-09-21 12:50:34 Update : 2015-09-21 15:34:11
With less than a week left before the start of the Chuseok holiday, additional cases of avian influenza have been confirmed.
The Ministry for Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs held an emergency news conference on Monday, announcing that the avian influenza H5N8 virus has been detected in sample tests of feces from ducks at markets in Damyang in South Jeolla and nearby Gwangju.
An official said the ministry is conducting a thorough examination on whether it is highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. The results will be available Monday afternoon.
The ministry said it took quarantine measures at the two markets immediately after the detection of the virus, including at the two stores that had provided the sample avian feces.
The announcement came three days after ducks at farms in Naju and Gangjin, both in South Jeolla Province, were confirmed to carry HPAI.
The ministry said it will take measures to prevent the spread of the virus, including banning the holding of large-sized events or the gathering of a multitude of people in the confirmed regions.
