Seoul, Jan 06, 2025, IANS

Seoul, Jan 6 (IANS) South Korea has confirmed its 20th case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) for this winter season at an egg farm in Gyeonggi Province, authorities said on Monday. The city government noted that the latest case was reported from a layer poultry farm in Yeoju, about 65 kilometers east of Seoul on Saturday, Yonhap news agency reported. It marks the 20th highly pathogenic AI case reported across the country in the winter season. Authorities have contained the area and culled some 104,000 chickens raised at the farm, as well as another 52,000 chicks at a broiler farm nearby as part of preventative measures. The last such case, detected on December 31, was confirmed from an egg farm in the country's central region of North Chungcheong Province. It was detected at a layer hen farm in Eumseong county, about 90 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the authorities had said. The owner of the farm made the initial report on an increase in deaths among the livestock. Authorities have contained the area and decided to cull some 44,000 chickens raised at the farm. Meanwhile, a team from Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub) -- a national platform hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, in collaboration with researchers from Japan developed Steadfast -- an advanced diagnostic kit for detecting the highly pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus (AIV). This development marks a significant breakthrough in avian influenza monitoring, reinforcing global efforts in pandemic preparedness, said the team. Steadfast offers rapid detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus. It also helps differentiate between HPAI and low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) strains -- critical for effective control measures. While conventional sequencing methods take two to three days for results, Steadfast can detect HPAI H5 strains (H5N1, H5N5, H5N6) in about three hours. In the recent past, the highly pathogenic bird flu virus has caused mass mortality in chickens and wild birds worldwide. The infections also spread to seals, cats, cattle, and even from cattle to humans -- increasing the threat of a potential next pandemic virus.