North Korea culls 160,000 birds to stop toxic bird flu outbreak

Around 160,000 birds have been culled in North Korea in order to limit a massive bird flu outbreak caused by a toxic strain of H5N1 virus.

The mass culling was carried out after authorities identified that ducks at the Tudan Duck Farm in Pyongyang city were infected with the virus from migratory birds, according to the state news agency KCNA.

Researchers from the Central Epizootic Prevention Center, the country’s main centre for new animal and bird diseases, are working to limit the bird flu virus.

Central Epizootic Prevention Center chief Kwon Jong-hyok said that as many as 160,000 ducks have been culled in order to limit the outbreak.

Anti-bird flu measures have been enforced at all administrative levels of the government, Jong-hyok added.

Around 1,360 veterinary epidemic control teams have been dispatched throughout the country and are screening birds for the virus.

The authorities in North Korea are investigating poultry farms and the transport of living fowls, and are also checking the health of residents, the state news agency said.

Pyongyang city is isolating the poultry from wild birds and their droppings in order to avoid disease transmission.

H5N1 is a subtype of avian influenza that has infected a number of bird species across Asia, Europe and Africa since it was identified in Southeast Asia in 2003.

The avian influenza virus can lead to fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, conjunctivitis, and, in severe cases, breathing problems and pneumonia that may be fatal.