S. Korea culls dogs in bird flu scare

SEOUL, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- U.N. health officials are questioning why South Korea is including cats and dogs in its latest poultry cull against an avian flu outbreak.

Following the discovery of the H5N1 flu virus at a poultry farm in Iksan, 155 miles south of Seoul during the weekend, the South Korean Health Ministry announced it would cull 236,000 chickens, destroy 6 million eggs, and kill 577 dogs and an unspecified number of cats, a Times of London correspondent reported.

However, Peter Roeder of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization said why dogs and cats were included in the cull wasn't clear.

"It is highly unusual, and it is not a science-based decision," Roeder said, "We've got absolutely no reason to believe they are important(for containment)."

Kim Chang Sup of the country's health ministry said other Southeast Asian countries also do it, but don't publicize it.

"All mammals are potentially subject to the virus and South Korea is just trying to take all possible precautionary measures, Kim said.

Tuesday, a second outbreak on a farm less than two miles away from the first farm in Iksan was reported, and quarantine boundaries were extended, the BBC said.