The South Korean government will strengthen quarantine measures against avian influenza for several months, beginning in October, to help the country’s successful hosting of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
 
The Agriculture Ministry announced on Wednesday that the next eight months, through next May, will be designated as a special period with a slew of strengthened quarantine measures put in place.
 
Government action will include providing compensation for breeders of ducks, which are particularly vulnerable to bird flu, if they are forced to close their farms between November and February.
 
The government designates a special quarantine period every year, but the upcoming one will enforce more strengthened measures than before, given the country’s first Winter Games to be held in February.
 
Recently, wild bird droppings found in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province tested positive for avian influenza.
 
The ministry plans to take strict quarantine measures, which are called for under the highest AI warning level, in preparation for the imminent influx of migratory birds into the Korean Peninsula.