S. Korea culls bird flu threat
Two new suspected cases of bird flu
From CNN's Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae
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200,000 chickens and ducks have been killed in South Korea to stop the spread of a highly contagious strain of bird flu.
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SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Health authorities have ordered the slaughter of more than 200,000 poultry around the farm where the first case of bird flu was confirmed earlier this week.
The fight to contain the highly contagious strain of bird flu suffered a setback Friday when two more suspected cases of the virus were located in duck farms outside the containment zone.
Outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Hong Kong in 1997 and 1998 killed six people.
Seoul authorities say they see no signs of that happening.
Nevertheless, hundreds of people living within the infected areas have been given blood tests.
Authorities are investigating the possibility that migrant birds flocking to a natural habitat may be the carriers of the highly contagious bird flu.
Tests are being conducted to determine whether the virus had spread and government agents bagged and buried 150,000 slaughtered chickens from farms south of Seoul.
Poultry transport has also been restricted for 30 days at 76 farms.
