(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-24 10:36

SEOUL, South Korea - A low-grade strain of bird flu has killed 200 chickens south of the South Korean capital, the agriculture ministry said Friday.

The ministry identified the strain of bird flu as "low pathogenic" and said that it was neither the H5N1, which can be lethal to humans, nor the less dangerous H5N2 strains.

The ministry said it would take preventive measures, including disinfecting the remaining 19,000 chickens at a chicken farm in Pyeongtaek city, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Seoul.

The exact cause of the outbreak has yet to be determined but "it has nothing to do with a suspected case of bird flu" in the southwestern province of Jeolla, said Lee Joo-won, an official at the ministry.

That outbreak has killed around 6,000 chickens and prompted authorities to cull a further 6,000 to prevent the virus from spreading, said the ministry, adding that it could confirm this weekend whether it was the H5N1 strain.

South Korea culled 5.3 million birds during the last known outbreak of bird flu in 2003.

The H5N1 virus began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003 and has killed at least 153 people worldwide.