A government official guards a checkpoint in Gochang near a duck farm hit by bird flu. [Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea imposed a temporary travel ban on poultry farm workers and their vehicles to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian flu that broke out in a duck farm after a four-month lull.
The 48-hour ban took effect at midnight Sunday after health officials confirmed a bird flu outbreak caused by the H5N6 virus at a farm in the southwestern rural county of Gochang. Some 12,000 ducks in the farm were slaughtered and buried and a sanitary cordon line was set up in the region, according to the agriculture ministry.
In an emergency order, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon called for quick and strong steps to sterilize poultry farms nationwide amid concern about a possible impact on preparations for South Korea's first Winter Olympics in February in the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang.
South Korea suffered the worst bird flu outbreak last winter which ended on July 13 after leaving a record 38 million birds culled. Poultry farms were still reeling from widespread damage.
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