South Korean officials say they have killed Seoul's entire poultry population to curb the spread of bird flu following a fresh outbreak of the disease in the capital.
Quarantine officials destroyed 15,000 chickens, ducks, pheasants and turkeys raised in farms, restaurants, schools and homes in the city, Kim Yoon-kyu, an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said Monday.
The Seoul government said in a statement that the slaughter was necessary to contain the disease. It said it will now focus on preventing live poultry from being brought into Seoul.
The slaughter began Sunday night, hours after authorities recorded Seoul's second outbreak of bird flu in less than a week.
The slaughter did not affect parrots, parakeets and canaries because they have little chance of spreading the disease, Kim said.
