H5N1 Spread in Southwest Korea
Recombinomics Commentary 09:33
April 11, 2008
suspected outbreaks of avian influenza have been discovered in Naju, about 355 kilometers south of Seoul.
authorities found suspected cases in Yeongam, 25 kilometers south of Naju, earlier in the week
The first outbreaks occurred in areas about 100 kilometers north of Naju, with several confirmed and suspected cases in Gimje and Jeongeup.
The ministry said there are now 25 confirmed and suspected cases of bird flu, with officials scrambling to cull and bury birds to prevent further contamination.
"As a precautionary measure, all birds within a 10 kilometer radius of Gimje and Jeongeup farms are to be destroyed," a quarantine official said. He added similar steps are to be taken for ducks and chickens within 3 kilometers of Yeongam.
He said the decision will result in over 2.36 million birds being culled in these regions.
The above comments describe the spread of H5N1 in South Korea (see satellite map). These locations are in the same region as outbreaks in 2003/2004 and 2006/2007 and lie on a migratory bird flyway between South Korea and Mongolia. Sequences from the 2006/2007 outbreak were the Uvs Lake strain, which evolved over the summer of 2006 in Mongolia.
It is likely that the movement of migratory birds to to north is linked to the current outbreaks in South Korea, as well as the bird flu outbreak in Primorsky, Russia, just north of North Korea.
These outbreaks raise concerns of additional unreported outbreaks in North Korea and northeastern China.
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