Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 1/2/19


South Korean officials are imposing new rules designed to stem the potential spread of avian influenza (AI) while U.S. regulators are reminding poultry farms of a USDA program encouraging vigilance against the highly contagious disease.

South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is adopting stricter qualifications for poultry stock breeders, including banning new chicken and duck farms in areas of Korea that may be prone to AI outbreaks. New rules also bar opening poultry farms within 500 meters of existing chicken and duck farms, according to a report in the Korea Herald. Bird flu outbreaks in Korea in recent years prompted the culling of millions of birds, including at least 26 million in 2016 alone.

Meanwhile, the director of avian, swine and aquatic animal health at USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is reminding the U.S. poultry industry that daily work on biosecurity measures is required to protect chickens and turkeys from AI infections. Veterinarian Dr. Alan Huddleston also told the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association that USDA’s Defending the Flock program offers specific biosecurity guidelines and checklists aimed at preventing Ai infections like the one that killed about 50 million chickens and turkeys in 2014-2015.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza often is spread during migratory periods as wild birds carry the virus to areas where commercial poultry are housed. Contagion is especially prevalent in the winter and spring when commercial birds are in close quarters indoors.

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