SOUTH KOREA ORDERS STANDSTILL IN ALL POULTRY FARMS

South Korea issued a 48-hour standstill order on all poultry farms across the country following a series of highly pathogenic bird flu cases, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Until Sunday, all poultry farms and livestock production facilities, including their vehicles and personnel, will be subject to the movement ban, with disinfection work to be carried out during the period, authorities said.

The country has been reporting highly contagious avian influenza cases from local farms nationwide, including the provinces of South and North Jeolla, Gyeonggi, North Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang.

On Friday, South Korea confirmed two more cases of the bird flu, raising the total caseload of this season to 10. Highly pathogenic avian influenza is contagious and can cause severe illness and even death in poultry. The country reported its first highly pathogenic case in 32 months in late October in Cheonan, about 90 kilometers south of Seoul, from wild birds. Culling of 32,000 ducks is under way at a duck farm in Naju, South Jeolla Province, southwestern South Korea, after an outbreak of avian influenza was confirmed there.