S. Korea kills animals to stop bird flu

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S. Korea kills animals to stop bird flu

By BO-MI LIM

The Associated Press

11/28/2006

 

IKSAN, South Korea (AP) — A 2-year-old dachshund barked chained to its dingy,

wooden house Tuesday, unaware of its fate as South Korea began slaughtering

hundreds of dogs, cats and pigs in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly

H5N1 strain of bird flu.

 

The dog's owner Im Soon-duck — like many villagers — was more concerned

about losing her three pigs than the dog, which was a present from her daughter.

 

" Dogs are good for keeping us amused. But pigs — it costs us a lot to buy

those pigs, " said the 66-year-old Im, who lives next to a chicken farm where a

second outbreak of bird flu was confirmed Tuesday, near the site of an outbreak

last week in Iksan, about 155 miles south of Seoul.

 

" We people in rural areas depend on pigs and cows for our living, " Im said.

 

The government is to compensate farmers for their lost livestock, but the exact

amounts are not yet known.

 

Quarantine officials began the slaughter Tuesday even though international

health experts have questioned killing non-poultry species to curtail bird flu's

spread, saying there is no scientific evidence to suggest dogs, cats or pigs can

pass the virus to humans.

 

Since ravaging Asia's poultry in late 2003, the H5N1 virus has killed at least

153 people worldwide. Infections among people have been traced to contact with

infected birds, but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that passes

easily between humans, leading to a human pandemic.

 

South Korean officials insist the decision to slaughter dogs, cats and pigs was

not unusual and that the step has been taken in other countries without public

knowledge.

 

Park Kyung-hee, an official at Iksan City Hall, said 677 dogs — bred on farms

for their meat — along with 300 pigs were to be slaughtered Tuesday, and said

stray cats and mice also would be killed. Another city official said pet " dogs

raised individually in houses will also be subject to slaughter. " He spoke on

condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

 

A total of 236,000 poultry and some 6 million eggs will be destroyed by

Thursday, the Agriculture Ministry has said.

 

The ministry plans to kill additional poultry within a 1,640-foot radius of the

new outbreak site, about two miles from the initial outbreak location, but the

numbers of affected animals was not yet known.

 

Animal rights activists criticized the government move, saying it had no

scientific basis.

 

" The claim by the South Korean government that killing cats and dogs will

prevent further spread of bird flu is unfounded and is a dangerous diversion of

resources, " said Dr. Michael Greger, director of public health and animal

agriculture for The Humane Society of the United States and author of a book on

bird flu.

 

" Indeed, no evidence exists to show cats or dogs play any role in the spread of

this virus, " Greger said.

 

Kum Sun-lan, spokesman for the Korea Animal Protection Society, agreed. " The

government should know better about their course of action, " he said. " It is

unacceptable how they just move on with the extermination procedure without any

reliable evidence for it. "

 

Many villagers like Im — mostly elderly farmers — appeared nonchalant about

the slaughtering of their dogs, who are usually kept outside in cages or

chained.

 

Most of the dogs don't have names; Im couldn't remember the name her daughter in

Seoul gave the dachshund.

 

Dogs bred for food are regularly slaughtered in South Korea, where dog meat is

widely consumed, especially among middle-aged men who believe bosintang, or dog

soup, is good for stamina and virility.

 

" I do feel bad that my dogs would have to be killed when they are not even

sick, " said Noh Jung-dae, a 63-year-old farmer who also lives next to the

chicken farm that saw the latest outbreak. " But, if the government has to do it

to prevent the disease, what can I do? "

 

Noh said he had planned to eat some of the six dogs he was raising.

 

The scene in the rural area is a far cry from posh neighborhoods of the capital,

Seoul, where an increasing number of people keep cats and dogs as pets, often

pampering them with fancy haircuts and expensive accessories. Pet shops are easy

to spot in the city, where there are even coffee shops specially designed for

pets and their owners.

 

In Iksan, some younger villagers raised concerns about the slaughter.

 

" It's just too cruel to indiscriminately kill other livestock when there is

obviously no proof these animals can transmit the bird flu virus to humans, "

said 29-year-old Kim Sung-tae. " I have little puppies that are as small as my

palm. How can they have the heart to kill those small things? "

__

 

Associated Press writer Tracee Herbaugh contributed to this report from New

York.

 

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Dogs killed in bird flu alert

Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor

The Times

November 28, 2006

 

Fear of epidemic in South Korea

Action 'unusual' say health experts

 

Having killed millions of chickens and geese, the bird flu epidemic is claiming

the lives of dogs and cats that are being slaughtered in South Korea to contain

the virus.

 

Health officials in the town of Iksan, 250km (155 miles) south of the capital,

Seoul, intend to kill 577 dogs and an unspecified number of cats after an

outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza among farm chickens. A total of

236,000 chickens and 6 million eggs will also be destroyed, adding to the 96,000

birds that have already been culled.

 

At least 153 people have died of the H5N1 virus in ten countries since it was

first detected among chickens in 2003. Virtually all those infected contracted

the illness from the feathers or faeces of birds. It is feared that the virus

will mutate into a form which can be passed from person to person, creating a

global pandemic.

 

Some health experts believe that the killing of dogs and cats is unnecessary and

will not impede the disease. “It is highly unusual, and it is not a

science-based decision,†said Peter Roeder, of the United Nations Food and

Agricultural Organisation. “We’ve got absolutely no reason to believe they

are important.â€

 

A zoo in Thailand lost tigers and snow leopards to the disease three years ago

after they had eaten chickens infected with H5N1. The virus has been detected

among pet cats in Europe.

 

“Other countries do it,†said Kim Chang Sup, of the South Korean Health

Ministry. “They just don’t talk about it. All mammals are potentially

subject to the virus and South Korea is just trying to take all possible

precautionary measures.â€

 

Most of those who have died from H5N1 have been in South-east Asia, especially

Indonesia and Vietnam. Nearly all the infections have occurred in people who

lived on farms or villages in close daily proximity to chickens or ducks.

 

A mutation of a virus is believed to have created the Spanish flu, which killed

between 20 million and 100 million people across the world in 1918 and 1919.

Humanto-human infections may have occurred during outbreaks of bird flu in Hong

Kong and Europe in 1997, which remained under control.

 

258 Confirmed cases of bird flu in humans; 153 deaths

 

Source: World Health Organisation

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2474510,00.html