Seoul: South Korea has ordered its biggest-ever cull of chickens and other poultry, gassing millions of birds to fight an avian flu outbreak spreading at what the government called an unprecedented rate.
Most of the birds culled were egg-laying hens, sending local egg prices sharply higher. Among the first consumers to react, bakeries said they were are cutting down on egg purchases and some families said they were switching to other foods.
The Agriculture Ministry said yesterday that it had ordered the cull of 4 million more birds, which would take to 16 million the total number killed since mid-November, or almost one-fifth of poultry population.
On Thursday, South Korea raised its bird flu alert status to the highest level for the first time, because of the rapid spread of the H5N6 virus.
The government has said it has found 54 cases of the virus in poultry since the first outbreak was reported on November 18.
"It appears to be more highly pathogenic and it is spreading more quickly than the H5N8 virus that occurred in 2014," Agriculture Minister Kim Jae-soo said.
About 14 million birds were culled until that outbreak was finally brought under control in November 2015.
"We have appointed a central emergency measures headquarters to oversee the situation and reinforce our pan-governmental response measures," added Kim.
