Bird flu-hit S. Korea culls over 33 million poultry

By Alex Jensen
SEOUL (AA) - South Korea has been forced to cull over 33 million poultry since its latest avian influenza (AI) outbreak began last November, according to the government Saturday.
The Agriculture Ministry announced the figure had reached 33.12 million livestock a day earlier -- significantly more than the previous highest culling of 13.96 million birds in 2014.
Most of the cases in around 340 farms nationwide involve the highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of the AI virus.
No human infections have been noted but concerns remain high following a new case that emerged Monday at a farm in North Jeolla Province.
Yonhap News Agency reported farms are expected to be due 261.2 billion won ($227.8 million) -- 2.6 times higher than the compensation in 2014.
The country is also in the grip of its first foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in nearly a year, with authorities nationwide scrambling to ensure the vaccination of around 3 million cows nationwide.
Government data Friday showed 1,093 cattle from 14 farms had already been culled.