Virulent H5N1 bird flu strikes in South Korea's capital Seoul close to a zoo
Source: 09-MAY-2008 Intellasia | AP
May 9, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM The first bird flu outbreak in South Korea's capital has been confirmed as the dangerous H5N1 strain, the Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.

The outbreak occurred among birds raised in a cage on the compound of a local government office in eastern Seoul for children to view. Four of 57 pheasants, chickens and turkeys died of the disease, and the remainder were destroyed later.

The Gwangjin-gu local government office is just 1.2 kilometres (less than a mile) from Children's Grand Park, an amusement park that includes the biggest zoo in Seoul. That raised concerns about the risk of human infection because 500,000 people visited the park on the Children's Day holiday Monday.

The ministry said its investigation found no link between the latest outbreak and the park.

However, the Seoul city government destroyed 63 birds at the park and 191 birds at another major theme park just south of the city, while disinfecting other birds and putting them off limits to visitors.

The ministry said two pheasants, which were brought to the local government office from a farm market in Seongnam, south of Seoul, had carried the disease.

Poultry trading at the market has been banned and poultry stores have been temporarily shut down, it said.

Bird flu began sweeping southern parts of the country last month for the first time in more than a year, forcing the slaughter of about 6.5 million poultry.

The virus remains hard for people to catch, but scientists worry it could mutate into a form that spreads more easily between humans, with the potential to kill millions worldwide.

At least 240 people have died from bird flu since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation. Most human cases so far have been linked to contact with infected poultry.