The government says the avian influenza(AI) virus has been detected in excrement samples of wild birds gathered in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Friday, a team at Konkuk University administered the samples collected for research purposes into hatchery eggs to analyze the excrement.
When the team found that baby chicks inside the eggs died, the samples were tested by quarantine authorities who confirmed the H5N6 strain of highly pathogenic AI. It's the first time highly pathogenic AI is reported in South Korea this winter.
The Agriculture Ministry has designated an area within a ten-kilometer radius of the location where the virus was detected as a zone requiring particular monitoring of wild birds.
Travel restrictions are in place on all poultry farms in the designated area. Government officials and experts have been tasked with conducting daily disinfections and taking other quarantine measures.
Source: KBS World Radio
