Across Asia: Republic of Korea

Bird flu spreads to Seoul

Republic of Korea's (ROK) worst outbreak of bird flu has spread to the capital with agriculture ministry officials saying yesterday four dead birds raised at a Seoul district government office had tested positive.

ROK has confirmed 24 cases of the deadly H5N1 strain in poultry in about a month. It has killed more than 5 million chickens and ducks but that has not stopped the virus from spreading at its fastest rate since the country reported its first case in 2003.