South Korea confirms new bird flu cases

South Korea confirmed on Monday a fresh case of the bird flu at a chicken farm and planned to slaughter more chickens living near the affected area, the Agricultural Ministry said.
A chicken farm in Chonan, 90 km (50 m) south of the capital Seoul, was tested positive for the bird flu, bringing the number of cases to 17 while, fears are deepening over the virus that has swept across Southeast Asia and claimed human victims.
"Now that the farm is tested positive, we will take appropriate measures such as slaughtering chickens in the neighbouring farms," said an official at a section of the Agricultural Ministry that follows the disease.
South Korea first reported an outbreak of the disease among chickens and ducks on December 10.
It has yet to report any human victims. Hundreds of South Koreans living in the affected areas have been given blood tests, although no one has shown symptoms of the disease.
South Korea has slaughtered almost 2.5 million of the country's total 108 million poultry in an effort to contain the disease.