The outbreak of AI in Pocheon, the largest egg-producing city

Avian Influenza (AI), which had usually occurred in southern part of Gyeonggi Province in Korea such as Icheon and Anseong was detected in Pocheon, northern part of Gyeonggi, causing high tension among quarantine authorities and poultry farmers. Pocheon is the place that produces the largest volume of eggs in Korea.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Friday, Gyeonggi Province has decided to cull all the 130,000 AI-suspected chickens in a poultry farm located in Yeongjung, Pocheon City. On the previous day, some 100 chickens died at the farm whose spawning rate went down, showing AI symptoms.

Pocheon City collected some samples from the farm in Yeongjung to test if it’s positive for H5N8, highly pathogenic avian influenza. Although it will take three to four days to have accurate test results, the ministry decided to cull all the chicken at the affected farm to preclude possible spread of the virus to other areas.

The AI outbreak at Pocheon, where had known to be “AI-Free zone,” has put poultry farmers and quarantine authorities on high alert. It is especially worrisome given that Pocheon rears the biggest number of chicken for producing eggs. Some 120 poultry farmers in the region raise seven million to eight million chickens, accounting for 10 percent of egg production nationwide. Industry watchers expressed their concerns that if the samples taken from the Yeongjung farm tested positive for H5N8, the supply of egg could go down and its price could go up.

On the same day, a duck farm at Goseong, Southern Gyeongsang Province reported a case of ducks with AI symptoms and the authorities are now investigating the case. The temporary inspection tested AI positive. The farm is said to rear some 14,000 ducks.