South Korea kills poultry in Seoul after bird flu reported in city

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean quarantine officials have started killing poultry in Seoul to curb the spread of bird flu after a fresh outbreak of the disease in the capital, officials said Monday.

The slaughter began Sunday night when quarantine officials started killing about 15,000 chicken, ducks, pheasants and turkeys raised in farms, restaurants, schools and other facilities in the city, said Han Mun-cheol, an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Earlier Sunday, Seoul recorded its second outbreak of bird flu in less than a week, Han said.

Ministry official Kim Chang-sup said government tests were under way to determine whether the latest outbreak was caused by the deadly H5N1 virus. He said the results of the tests would be available as early as Monday night.

Bird flu began sweeping southern parts of the country last month for the first time in more than a year, forcing the slaughter of about 6.8 million birds.

The virus remains hard for people to catch, but scientists worry it could mutate into a form that spreads more easily between humans, with the potential to kill millions worldwide.

At least 240 people have died from bird flu since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Most human cases so far have been linked to contact with infected poultry.