Temporary standstill issued to prevent bird flu from spreading

Описание: Let's start with the bird flu crisis affecting the southern and central regions

of Korea...
The government has ordered a second temporary standstill on the

movement of livestock and farm workers, since the virus broke out eleven

days ago.
Kwon Soa reports. It was a busy weekend for disease prevention

authorities as areas with confirmed or suspected bird flu cases are being

supervised around the clock.
Despite their best efforts, the rising number of confirmed cases prompted

the government on Sunday to issue a 12-hour standstill from Monday

morning on the movement of any livestock, farm workers, and vehicles in

Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheong-do, Daejeon, as well as the administrative city

of Sejong.
The standstill came into effect at 6am on Monday and will be lifted at 6pm.
The government took the step as fears grow the virus could spread

throughout the entire nation, especially after the highly pathogenic H5N8

strain was confirmed in more ducks over the weekend, including on a farm

in Korea's southern Jeollanam-do Province.
Further north in Buyeo, Chungcheongnam-do Province, the virus has been

confirmed in chickens for the first time.
This is especially concerning as chickens are more vulnerable to the virus,

and they greatly outnumber the number of ducks.
With that in mind, authorities have decided to cull all ducks AND chicken

within a three-kilometer radius of six regions along the west coast.
Nearly half-a-million birds have been culled so far... with another 1-point-5

million to be slaughtered over the coming days.
The virus has also been found in migratory bird droppings at Sihwaho lake

in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do Province.
This is the most northern point in which the virus have been detected,

increasing worries it could spread to the Seoul metropolitan area.
Residents in Seoul have reported three suspicious bird deaths over the last

few days, but further investigation showed they weren't linked to the bird

flu.
More cases are predicted to show up this week, especially since the virus

has an incubation period of seven to 21 days.
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won has ordered a state of emergency and

has called for special attention ahead of the Lunar New Year Holiday, which

begins on Thursday.
Kwon Soa, Arirang News.