By Soh Ji-young
Staff Reporter

The Korea Center for Disease Control (KCDC) on Wednesday said it sent inspectors to areas hit by the highly contagious bird flu to check whether any respiratory disease patients possibly became infected with the disease.

The move comes after an increasing number of Asian countries report outbreaks of bird flu, with the human death toll also rising.

A total of 35 inspectors were deployed to 22 hospitals situated near flu-struck areas to survey whether any people who were hospitalized for respiratory diseases from mid-December could have been exposed to the bird flu virus.

The bird flu outbreak was first reported in the country on Dec. 15, after chickens at a farm in Umsong, North Chungchong Province, were confirmed to have highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as the H5N1 virus.

The KCDC said that no people had reported any symptoms similar to the bird flu but said it has decided to conduct the inspection as a special precaution.

If any people are found to have been hospitalized after being exposed to the virus, officials will conduct blood tests to confirm whether they are infected.

On Monday, another bird flu outbreak was confirmed at a farm in Chonan, South Chungchong Province, the first case to erupt in 13 days.

With the discovery, the number of farms where the epidemic was reported grew to a total 17 across the country.

Health officials said that there is little chance for the virus to cross over to humans, as the H5N1 virus discovered in the country has a somewhat different genetic sequence from the one found in Vietnam which was responsible for six deaths.

More than 2.4 million chickens and ducks have been slaughtered and buried here so far to prevent the spread of the disease.

jysoh@koreatimes.co.kr