South Korea says probing suspected bird flu case

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea is investigating a suspected bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm in the southwest of the country, the food and agriculture ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The strain of bird flu at the farm in Kimje, around 214 km south of Seoul, had not been identified, the ministry added.

Results of further testing should be available by early Friday, it said.

The farm, which raises 150,000 birds, has reported the death of nearly 2,400 poultry since Saturday, the ministry said.

It banned the farm from distributing poultry to other areas.

The country has had seven outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu between November 2006 and March 2007, spending $59.17 million on quarantine measures.

In November, South Korea had discovered less a virulent strain of bird flu and culled 13,000 fowl.