The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says a virulent strain of bird flu was confirmed in Songpa, southeastern Seoul and a suspected case was reported earlier in the day in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province.

The country has suffered a total of 67 reports of bird flu since the 1 April - 40 confirmed as the virulent H5N1 strain and 25 due to other diseases.

Since the beginning of April more than seven million chickens and ducks have been slaughtered but even these stringent measures have not halted the spread of the deadly virus throughout South Korea faster than ever since the country's first outbreak in 2003.

Officials say Seoul has slaughtered all the 15 000 chickens and ducks raised in the city as a pre-emptive measure following the outbreak at Songpa district which was confirmed on Monday and all birds raised on school premises have also been culled as a precautionary measure.

South Korea wants to increase it's stockpile of vaccines such as Tamiflu and Relenza to sufficient levels to treat 2.5 million people, or 5% of the country's population.

[15 May 2008 06:08]

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