South Korea on Monday issued a standstill order for all poultry farms in Gyeonggi Province after the region that surrounds Seoul identified one suspected case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI).

Under the decision, all poultry farms will be banned from moving birds as well as related automobiles for the next 48 hours through early Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

On late Sunday, the ministry said it was carrying out an investigation into the suspected bird flu case at an egg farm in Yeoju of Gyeonggi Province, which could be the country's fourth AI case from farms this year.

On Saturday, South Korea confirmed its third case of highly pathogenic AI at a duck farm in Yeongam, 308 kilometers south of Seoul.

To prevent the disease from spreading to other regions, the country culled all poultry within a 3-km radius of the infected farm, destroying around 500,000 birds.

The first farm-related case of this year came from Jeongeup, 290 km south of Seoul, on Nov. 28, followed by a second case in Sangju, 270 km southeast of the capital city, on Wednesday.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is contagious and can cause severe illness and even death in poultry.

South Korea reported its first highly pathogenic AI case in 32 months in late October from Cheonan, 92 km south of Seoul, from wild birds.

Since then, the country has confirmed 15 cases from the wild. (Yonhap)