Seoul, Jan 11
South Korea reported two additional cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI), bringing the country's total number of outbreaks this season to 23, authorities said on Friday.

The new cases were detected on Monday at a broiler breeder farm in Dangjin, 79 km south of Seoul, and a meat duck farm in Buan, 204 km south of Seoul, according to the central disaster management headquarters for AI outbreaks, Yonhap news agency reported.

Authorities are monitoring 69 poultry farms located within the quarantine zones of the two infected farms to prevent further spread, the anti-disaster office said.

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.

Early this week, the US reported the first human death in the country due to bird flu or H5N1.

The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed in a news release that the patient had been hospitalised with the first human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza, Xinhua news agency reported.

The patient was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions, said the department, adding that the patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.

The department noted that the patient remains the only human case of H5N1 in the southeastern US state and the department's extensive public health investigation has identified no additional H5N1 cases nor evidence of person-to-person transmission.

While the current public health risk for the general public remains low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk, state officials warned, adding that the best way to protect people from H5N1 is to avoid sources of exposure.

As of Monday, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the US since 2024 and 67 since 2022.

Outside the US, more than 950 cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organisation; about half of those have resulted in death, according to the CDC.

CDC pointed out that no person-to-person transmission spread has been identified. The agency said it has carefully studied the available information about the person who died in Louisiana and continues to assess that the risk to the general public remains low.

S. Korea confirms 2 more bird flu outbreaks, raising season's total to 23