South Korea reports new avian influenza case at egg farm in central region

Seoul, Dec 31 (IANS) South Korea has confirmed its 19th case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) at an egg farm in the country's central region of North Chungcheong Province, authorities said on Tuesday.

The latest case was detected at a layer hen farm in Eumseong county, about 90 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the authorities said.

The owner of the farm made the initial report on an increase in deaths among the livestock, reports Yonhap news agency.

This raises the number of such AI cases to 19 for the winter season this year.

Authorities have contained the area and decided to cull some 44,000 chickens raised at the farm.

They also plan to carry out inspections at eight other farms owned by the same agricultural company, and some 55 other poultry farms within the affected farm's quarantine zone.

Meanwhile, California's battle against avian influenza A (H5N1) intensified amid spreading infections across dairy farms and a growing number of human infection, including two newly confirmed cases in Stanislaus and Los Angeles counties.

The virus, commonly known as bird flu, has infected 659 of California's 984 dairy operations since August, with one-quarter of these cases emerging in the past month alone, according to California authorities.

The rapid spread through the state's dairy industry prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency last week to protect agricultural workers and public health, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak," Newsom said in a statement.

The outbreak's human impact has grown increasingly severe, with California reporting at least 36 confirmed cases -- more than half of the nation's total of 65, according to the latest report by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), though the actual count is likely higher as recent local confirmations may not yet be reflected in federal data.

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