A South Korean health official sprays disinfectant. Seoul has offered to help North Korea contain the outbreak.

　　North Korea has sought South Korea’s help in combating a bird flu outbreak that has forced it to cull more than 210,000 chickens at two poultry farms in its capital, a South Korean ministry official has said.

　　North Korea asked for equipment and medicine. It expressed gratitude for the South’s offer of help, which was made shortly after Pyongyang announced the outbreak on March 27, the Unification Ministry said on Friday.

　　"There was no information on whether there was human infection," ministry spokesman Kim Hong-jae said by telephone.

　　The request gave no details on what supplies it needed, and the South would consult with the North on the nature of the assistance, the timing of the shipment and the route it would take, Kim Hong-jae said.