South Korea has culled 2.8 million farm birds or 2% of its poultry after the H5N8 strain of bird flu was discovered at 15 poultry farms and in 19 migratory birds. The first case of the H5N8 strain was found January 17th at a duck farm in North Jeolla, 300km southwest of Seoul. Retail prices for poultry in the country have remained steady however sales have plummeted. In one of Seoul’s largest poultry markets sales of chicken fell 57%, egg sales fell 36% and duck sales fell 79% in the last week of January. There is no national data currently available. According to the World Health Organization China has reported 127 laboratory-confirmed cases of H7N9 in January with 21 deaths suffered in 2014. Since 2004 South Korea has seen four outbreaks of bird flu but no human infections.
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