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With a highly contagious strain of bird flu spreading, South Korea's government held an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss ways to contain the outbreak.

Masked South Korean health officials in protection suits work near a duck farm affected by a highly contagious strain of bird flu in Umsong county, southeast of Seoul December 21, 2003. South Korea confirmed on Saturday two new cases of a highly contagious strain of bird flu, which can be deadly to humans, at a duck farm in Umsong, and would cull almost half a million more poultry and disinfect farms. [Reuters]

Prime Minister Goh Kun chaired the meeting, which coincided with an agriculture ministry announcement of a new case of the virus.

The bird flu virus, which can be deadly for humans, surfaced among chickens at a farm about 50 miles southeast of the capital Seoul on Monday.

Since then, the authorities have slaughtered 210,000 chickens and ducks, but officials say a further 405,000, at least, will be culled.

A variant of avian influenza identified as H5N1 killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997 and 1998. South Korean authorities have asked for U.S. help to check whether the latest virus has the same gene as that strain.

Hundreds of people living in the affected areas have been given blood tests, although no one has shown symptoms of the disease.

Agriculture Minister Huh Sang-man, Defense Minister Cho Young-kil, Health Minister Kim Hwa-jung and other health-related officials attended Sunday's emergency meeting.

Authorities are looking at migratory birds as a possible cause of the Korean outbreak.

The agriculture ministry said the new case was 15 miles away from the first confirmed case.

"A sample test showed the duck farm was affected by the virus," one official said. "About 5,000 ducks in the farm will be slaughtered and buried."

Experts were testing for two more suspected cases of the disease in the newly affected areas, the ministry added.

A YTN television reported that the virus had hit seven duck farms in Naju, 170 miles southwest of Seoul. Quarantine officials were investigating and had banned movements of the 9,800 ducks, it said.

But agriculture ministry officials could not immediately confirm the report.

Since the outbreak surfaced, exports of chickens and chicken meat to Japan, Hong Kong and China have been halted.

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