Fresh Outbreak of Bird Flu in Asia

After a brief lull, bird flu is back in Asia. Different Asian countries have gone ahead and put themselves on high alert following a reported fresh outbreak among the poultry in South Korea. This outbreak comes after a quiet period of around three months. The outbreak has come right on the heels of Indonesia, which has been the worst hit by bird flu so far, making an announcement about a reduction in the number of instances of attacks spread by the H5N1 virus in that country.

The outbreak has not been limited to one area alone, but across different Asian countries. In Vietnam, there have been 250 dead ducks in two communes in the Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces. These are the two provinces which have seen the death of about 8,400 chicken and ducklings, either due to state-sponsored slaughtering to prevent the outbreak from spreading, or by the H5N1 virus itself. This was the first fresh outbreak in recent times, the last one being in August.

There is also the danger of the virus spreading more now, in the winter, as the H5N1 virus thrives in colder temperatures.

In South Korea, the resurgence of the virus attack has wreaked maximum havoc, with three outbreaks reported since November itself. The outbreaks have been seen among chicken and quail, and have led to mass culling, resulting in the slaughter of over a million birds.

The current outbreak is the fourth one, and has been discovered among ducks at a duck farm in Asan, around 90 kilometers south of Seoul. While scientists have confirmed the strain causing it as H5, further tests are on to determine if the type is N1. In South Korea, the farmers have been co-operative, largely because the government has been paying them compensation for the birds they are losing.

The major reason for the large scale culling has been the inability to ensure proper vaccination of all birds and also the fear that the virus, which currently spreads to humans due to contact with infected birds, could easily mutate into one that could transmit by contact between humans as well, like the common cold virus, and result in a human pandemic. As it is, the number of human fatalities stands at 154 out of the 258 infected thus far.