A dog raised on a poultry farm in South Chungcheong Province was found to have developed antibodies for bird flu, meaning that it had been infected with the virus without showing clinical symptoms.
This is Korea’s first case of cross-species transmission of the avian influenza virus, although the dog remained asymptomatic.
The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency said Thursday that it had found H5N1 influenza virus antibodies in the dog in question at the farm in Cheonan. The farm was quarantined in February after a bird flu outbreak.
The finding is triggering new concerns about the health implications of infected animals.
According to the World Health Organizations (WHO), though cross-species infection does happen, it is very rare.
Similar cases have been reported in Southeast Asia and Europe since mid-2003 of the H5N1 virus infecting dogs, cats and pigs. In some experiments, infected cats showed severe symptoms that resulted in death.
On its website, the WHO states that infected animals may have contracted the virus after ingesting poultry excreta. The risk of infection to humans is reduced as long as meat from infected animals is thoroughly cooked. (From Korea Times)
Tests are being conducted on the farm owners for possible transmission of the virus from the dog.
There are records of human infection from poultry and other wild birds, but not from animals to humans.
The WHO stated that more than 50 countries around the world have experienced outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry and wild birds since 2003. And more than 10 countries have reported human H5N1 infection.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government raised its alert level for bird flu in the metropolitan region, following the recent discovery of the H5N8 virus in the body of a wild goose was highly infectious. The goose was found dead in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.
Authorities have banned the transportation of domesticated poultry within a 10 kilometers radius. Seoul Zoo in Gwacheon will stay closed until the outbreak subsides. A zoo at Everland Resort in Yongin, south of Seoul, also closed its wild bird section.
Only Gangwon Province and Jeju Island have not reported cases of avian influenza.
The rapid outbreak of the virus in the span of three months has hit poultry farmers hard. More than 10 million birds have been culled so far, which will cause problems in the supply chain if demand for chicken and duck begins to pick up. Unlike chicken, most of the country’s duck meat is imported from France, the U.S. and Taiwan.
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