SEOUL, – South Korea on Thursday reported two additional highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) cases at a poultry farm, bringing the total cases to four, health authorities said.

The two cases were confirmed at two separate poultry farms in the southwestern city of Iksan in North Jeolla Province, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

On Monday, the country confirmed the H5 AI strain for the first time during this winter season, and the second case was found Wednesday.

The first case was found at a duck farm in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, and the second case was confirmed at a duck farm in Muan in the same province, the health agency said.

The authorities cordoned off the farms and implemented quarantine measures, including the culling of 86,000 chickens and more than 36,000 ducks there, as a preventive step.

The breakouts come about eight months after the country reported an AI case at a poultry farm around April this year.

On Dec. 1, the government raised the warning level against the avian influenza from “attention” to “serious” and has enforced stronger quarantine measures after the H5N1 strain was found from wild birds in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.

Source: Yonhap News Agency