S. Korea reports new case of bird flu

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES with test result in 3rd para)
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's agriculture ministry said Saturday that a new case of bird flu has been found in the country, the first outbreak of the deadly livestock disease in five months.

According to the ministry, routine tests showed that some ducks at a farm in
Yesan, 134 kilometers south of Seoul, have been infected with avian influenza. As
a preemptive measures, all ducks at the farm were culled, it said.
"The test results show the virus is H5N2, a low-pathogenic strain of avian
influenza," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the virus is
low-infectious.
South Korea has been striving to contain the spread of bird flu since the first
case of the disease was confirmed in the country's southwestern area in May.
This year alone, millions of chickens, ducks and birds have been slaughtered due
to the disease.
No human deaths have been reported in South Korea but around 240 people have
reportedly died from the deadly H5N1 strain worldwide, according to the World
Health Organization.