The outbreak has prompted the government to increase the country’s warning level for avian flu to “serious danger.”

South Korea has culled a total of 18.8 million chickens and other poultry animals following an outbreak of bird flu.

According to the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu was detected at a duck farm in the North Jeolla province in late November.

 Outbreaks of the virus have since spread to farms across the entire country.

H5N8 can cause fatal outcomes in poultry and other birds and the country’s warning level for avian flu has been raised to “serious danger.”

The country’s law mandates that poultry within a radius of three kilometers (1.9 miles) from farms exposed to the strain must be culled and the affected farms must suspend their operations to curb the spread.

Apart from South Korea, the H5N8 pathogenic strain has affected many countries across the world including Japan, India, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Northern Germany, and Belgium.

This global spread of the pathogenic strain is being considered a significant pandemic threat, by experts.

Outbreak in the UK

The UK government has raised the risk of bird flu from low to medium after the virus hit several farms across the country.

Last November, more than 10,000 turkeys were slaughtered following an outbreak of bird flu at a farm in North Yorkshire, England.

Around the same time, a low-pathogenic H5N2 strain of bird flu was confirmed at Chookies Farm and Feed Store in Kent. 

Consequently, all 480 birds (including swans, pigeons, chickens, and ducks) were killed.

 A further 13,500 birds at a farm that rears broiler breeder chickens in Cheshire were culled after testing confirmed the presence of the H5N8 strain on the premises.

Outbreak in France

In France, around 350,000 ducks have already been killed since Christmas Eve over fears of a bird flu strain raging through the country.

Mass producers of foie gras have called for a mass preventive cull of ducks in a bid to prevent a more severe outbreak.

A further 400,000 are set to be killed, France’s chief veterinary officer revealed.

According to The Guardian, the head of France’s CIFOQ federation of foie gras producers, Marie-Pierre Pe, told Agence France-Presse: “The virus is stronger than us. New clusters are constantly emerging.”

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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