| Vice Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Lee Jun-won drinks water during a press briefing at the Sejong Government Complex, Monday, on the government's measures to deal with avian influenza. The ministry said the bird flu has been caused by two types of virus. / Yonhap |
Poor government guidelines fail to contain spread
By Kim Rahn
A second strain of avian influenza has been found in addition to an already reported one, accelerating the unprecedentedly fast-spreading epidemic.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Monday a highly pathogenic H5N8 strain of the flu virus was found in a wild bird's excrement near Anseong Stream in Gyeonggi Province. This strain is the same one that spread in 2014, but different from H5N6, which has swept the country except for Jeju Island since November.
This is the first time two types of avian flu virus have spread here together, posing a greater burden on quarantine authorities' efforts to contain the epidemic.
The ministry is investigating how the new virus reached Korea. "We are not ruling out the possibility that the H5N8 strain had remained dormant since the outbreak two years ago and was recently rediscovered," a ministry official said.
Nearly 20 million chickens and ducks have been culled across the country since the first report of the disease on Nov. 16.
The epidemic has hit a zoo as well.
According to Seoul Metropolitan Government that runs Seoul Zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, an H5 virus was detected in two dead storks and five mandarin ducks there. It is not known yet whether it is H5N6 or H5N8.
This was the first bird flu outbreak inside the zoo. The zoo has been closed since Saturday after the storks died.
To prevent further contamination, the zoo authorities culled the five mandarin ducks and another three that had been raised in the same cage. Mandarin ducks are designated as a natural monument and it is the first time for the zoo to cull an animal designated as such.
"We are examining 120 birds from 11 species kept in nearby cages and will look into more birds here," a city official said. "We'll close down the zoo until no virus is detected."
While the authorities are increasing their quarantine workforce, critics attributed the spread of the disease partly to the government guidelines on avian influenza because they contain only vague measures without detailed actions on each level of the alert.
For example, in the "vigilant" level, the second-highest level, the guidelines state the government shall "consider" ordering a nationwide standstill, without making such measure mandatory.
In the "serious" level, the highest one, it says the government shall also "consider" closing down traditional markets selling poultry. It also states the ministry "may suggest" setting up a central government-led disaster control headquarters for the disease "if necessary."
The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements said the vague guidelines lead to makeshift countermeasures every time the disease breaks out.
"The bird flu epidemic, which has been repeated for 13 years, shows the state does not have a responsible control tower," the group said in a statement. "The ministry, which should be the control tower, only blames migratory birds, and it is the animals and farmers that suffer."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Monday a highly pathogenic H5N8 strain of the flu virus was found in a wild bird's excrement near Anseong Stream in Gyeonggi Province. This strain is the same one that spread in 2014, but different from H5N6, which has swept the country except for Jeju Island since November.
This is the first time two types of avian flu virus have spread here together, posing a greater burden on quarantine authorities' efforts to contain the epidemic.
The ministry is investigating how the new virus reached Korea. "We are not ruling out the possibility that the H5N8 strain had remained dormant since the outbreak two years ago and was recently rediscovered," a ministry official said.
Nearly 20 million chickens and ducks have been culled across the country since the first report of the disease on Nov. 16.
The epidemic has hit a zoo as well.
According to Seoul Metropolitan Government that runs Seoul Zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, an H5 virus was detected in two dead storks and five mandarin ducks there. It is not known yet whether it is H5N6 or H5N8.
This was the first bird flu outbreak inside the zoo. The zoo has been closed since Saturday after the storks died.
To prevent further contamination, the zoo authorities culled the five mandarin ducks and another three that had been raised in the same cage. Mandarin ducks are designated as a natural monument and it is the first time for the zoo to cull an animal designated as such.
"We are examining 120 birds from 11 species kept in nearby cages and will look into more birds here," a city official said. "We'll close down the zoo until no virus is detected."
While the authorities are increasing their quarantine workforce, critics attributed the spread of the disease partly to the government guidelines on avian influenza because they contain only vague measures without detailed actions on each level of the alert.
For example, in the "vigilant" level, the second-highest level, the guidelines state the government shall "consider" ordering a nationwide standstill, without making such measure mandatory.
In the "serious" level, the highest one, it says the government shall also "consider" closing down traditional markets selling poultry. It also states the ministry "may suggest" setting up a central government-led disaster control headquarters for the disease "if necessary."
The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements said the vague guidelines lead to makeshift countermeasures every time the disease breaks out.
"The bird flu epidemic, which has been repeated for 13 years, shows the state does not have a responsible control tower," the group said in a statement. "The ministry, which should be the control tower, only blames migratory birds, and it is the animals and farmers that suffer."