S. Korea reports no additional avian influenza case for past week

SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's agricultural ministry said Friday the country has not reported a farm-linked highly pathogenic bird flu case for around a week, in a possible sign of a letup.

No suspected cases of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza were reported from local poultry farms since Friday last week, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The 103rd case of bird flu was reported from an egg farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul. South Korea identified its first bird flu case since 2018 in November of last year.

Cases from wild birds, meanwhile, continued to grow slightly, reaching 221 as of Friday. The ministry said the number is expected to grow at a slower pace down the road as migratory birds are returning to northern habitats.

The number of poultry culled as preventive measures since last year came to 29 million.

The local consumer price of eggs stayed high, rising 45.3 percent over the past week from a year earlier. That of chicken meat rose at a narrower margin of 9.7 percent.

colin@yna.co.kr
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