Bird Flu Hits South Korea

Kim Chang-sup, an official for South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry, confirmed the fourth outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus strain H5N1 so far this year.  This latest outbreak occurred on a farm in Yeoungam, about 236 miles southwest of Seoul, and resulted in the preventive slaughter of about 470,000 chickens and ducks farmed within a roughly 2-mile radius from the farm. Read more

WHO Praises Asian Countries for their Fight Against the Bird Flu

The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed its appreciation for the prompt reporting of the latest cases of bird flu by the Asian countries after the disease hit Pakistan and Myanmar. Countries that have shown remarkable results in preventing the virus from spreading uncontrollably.

According to a spokesman for Asia-Pacifi,c Peter Cordingley, “People have learned that hiding cases just makes things worse,” However China, previously accused of hiding its outbreaks, has now reported a 27^th death due to the virus, whereas Indonesia has been greatly affected, with the toll rising to 93 deaths up to this month. Few more cases of bird flu have been reported among chickens in Russia and Germany. The outbreak so far has claimed 200 deaths so far since the reemergence of the virus in the late 2003. Read more