A highly pathogenic aviation influenza virus appears to be spreading throughout Gyeonggi Province, the country’s largest poultry production base and most populated province, putting authorities on alert.

On Sunday, another possible outbreak of the H5N6 virus bird flu was reported at a chicken farm in Yangju. If confirmed, it will be the fourth confirmed case of bird flu in Gyeonggi Province, and the second in Yangju.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has banned stockbreeders at some 89,000 poultry farms from moving for 48 hours until Monday to prevent further spread of the virus.

Some 94,000 chickens and ducks at 49 poultry farms have been slaughtered, since Nov. 16, when the first outbreak was reported at a chicken farm in Haenam, South Jeolla Province.

Over the weekend, a poultry farm in Sejong, South Chungcheon Province, also reported a possible outbreak, with 280 chicken deaths.  

“Since about 21 percent of the total number of chicken farms across the country are located in Gyeonggi Province, the ministry is gearing up to strengthen quarantine measures in areas such as Paju and Gimpo, where wintering sites for a large number of migratory birds are located,” said Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that more cases are being examined as wild bird infections were reported around the western coastal areas.

Authorities see migratory birds as the source of the H5N6 virus outbreak here as there have been no reports of infections through the movement of people or livestock.

This is the first time that South Korea has reported an outbreak of the H5N6-strain bird flu.

In neighboring China, there have been 16 cases of human infections of the H5N6 since 2014. Ten of those infected died.

The ministry said that it will announce the result of AI virogene analysis early next week.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)