South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry said Thursday that quarantine measures will be intensified against bird flu as the latest outbreak in Gyeonggi Province has raised concerns with little over a month left before the start of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs heightened its alert level for bird flu after a H5N6 strain was confirmed at a layer chicken farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, earlier in the day.

The virus has spread mainly in North and South Jeolla Province with nine highly pathogenic cases since mid-November, but the first outbreak in Gyeonggi Province prompted stronger quarantine measures as the area is close to Gangwon Province, the host of the PyeongChang Olympics, which runs from Feb. 9-25. 

“The government will put concerted efforts in cooperation with the livestock industry to contain the further spread of bird flu in the run-up to PyeongChang Winter Games,” Agriculture Minister Kim Yong-rok said in a briefing. “We will also closely monitor the supply chain of poultry for stable market.

Following the report of a suspected case, the government on Wednesday imposed a 48-hour standstill on poultry, equipment and livestock breeders in Gyeonggi Province’s Cheorwon, east of Pocheon.

The government also culled 313,000 chickens within 500 meters radius of the affected farm and will cull 384,000 more in the nearby region as part of preventive measures.

Another case of AI, the H5 type, was confirmed at a duck farm in the county of Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, on Thursday.

More than 21,000 ducks were culled at the affected farm and the quarantine authorities were considering a decision to cull other avian livestock within a 3-km radius of the farm. 

The ministry said it will also step up inspections of duck farms in the southwestern region, a major duck producing area, and ban the entry of poultry to Gangwon Province to prevent further spread of the highly contagious virus. (Yonhap)