Bird flu may have hit N Korea

2005-03-16 09:20

Beijing - The World Health Organisation (WHO) was investigating on Wednesday reports of a bird flu outbreak last month in North Korea that may have killed thousands of chickens, a news report said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a source in Beijing as saying the outbreak occurred at a chicken farm near the capital Pyongyang, prompting emergency measures by North Korean officials.

North Korean farmers were ordered in the wake of the outbreak to implement strict hygiene procedures to prevent further spreading, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

Authorities in North Korea had taken "all possible preventive measures", to prevent bird flu from entering the country, Xinhua said, including inspections at the border and bans on poultry and poultry products.

A North Korean government spokesperson denied a bird flu outbreak had occurred while speaking with Xinhua reporters in Pyongyang. Experts estimate it could take weeks before an outbreak of the disease can be confirmed in the reclusive communist state.

Since the end of 2003, 46 people have died of the H5N1 virus known as bird flu in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. - dpa

- SAPA