The avian influenza viruses recently detected in central South Korea have been confirmed to be low pathogenic strains, the agriculture ministry said Saturday.

Bird flu viruses were discovered in three samples of wild bird droppings collected from a river in Iksan, about 200 kilometers south of Seoul, on Thursday. 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said low pathogenic H5N2 and H6N2 strains were separated from their samples in an in-depth inspection.

Low pathogenic AI strains cause only mild symptoms and may easily go undetected, while highly pathogenic subtypes spread rapidly across poultry farms and cause severe illnesses.

The provincial government has put in place a poultry movement ban for farms within a 10-kilometer radius of where the virus had been found earlier and carried out disinfection in nearby farms.

Quarantine authorities have stepped up disinfection and monitoring of local poultry farms as wild birds are flocking to the Korean Peninsula ahead of the winter season. (Yonhap)