UN bird flu expert sent to North Korea outbreak

A UN veterinary expert has been sent to North Korea to assess a bird flu outbreak there and offer assistance in trying to prevent the spread of the virus, the world body’s agricultural agency said today.

North Korea acknowledged an outbreak of bird flu for the first time on Sunday, saying hundreds of thousands of chickens were killed to prevent its spread, but no humans have caught the disease. It did not give other details, including the strain of the disease.