H5N1 Confirmed in Second S.K. Outbreak

So sayeth the Reuters:

"SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea on Tuesday confirmed a second outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu at a poultry farm, after confirming over the weekend it had its first outbreak in three years of the strain that can kill people.

The agriculture ministry said about 600 chickens died in the latest outbreak at a farm 3 km from where the first case had been confirmed in poultry in North Cholla province in the country's southwest.

There were no reports to suggest residents or quarantine officials had been infected in or around both infected farms, an agriculture official said by telephone.

"The test results have shown that we had a second case of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu," the ministry said in a statement.

Quarantine authorities would cull all poultry within a 500 metre radius of the latest infected farm.

The farms lie on a path for migratory birds that are heading south from Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan and sparked concern that other parts of South Korea might have also been hit.

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Was there really anyone thinking it would be anything but the bird flu? Confirmation is necessary though, I suppose.