South Korea issues nationwide bird flu alert
Updated
![South Korean quarantine officials march into a poultry farm south of Seoul to investigate one of 14 more suspected cases of bird flu. [AFP]](http://www.abc.net.au/ra/img/news/base/skorea_birdflu_afp_160408.jpg?<BR> "South Korean quarantine officials march into a poultry farm south of Seoul to investigate one of 14 more suspected cases of bird flu. [AFP]")
South Korean quarantine officials march into a poultry farm south of Seoul to investigate one of 14 more suspected cases of bird flu. [AFP]
South Korea has issued a nationwide bird flu alert, deployed troops and put firefighters on standby to contain the disease.
The agriculture ministry says the "orange" vigilance level is extended to the whole country after previously covering only the badly hit southwest.
The ministry confirms 20 outbreaks involving the H5 virus, of which at least six were the deadly H5N1 subtype, since the first case was reported 260 kilometres south of the capital Seoul, in early April.
It is investigating 14 more suspected cases, including one on a farm 70 kilometres south of Seoul.
Officials have slaughtered 2.2 million chickens and ducks in and around infected farms.
Soldiers are being deployed to help slaughter and bury poultry.
