A suspected avian influenza (AI) outbreak emerged at a layer poultry farm in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

According to Cheonan's city government, a regular animal health inspection confirmed H5 bird flu antigens at a farm in the village of Singa-ri.

Quarantine authorities asked the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency to test if the case is highly pathogenic. The livestock in question show no symptoms of the disease.

The farm raises 239,000 egg-laying chickens. Quarantine authorities have banned entry into the farm and plan to cull all its chickens as per the quarantine manual.

Some 23 households in Cheonan and neighboring Asan raise one-point-53 million chickens within a 10-kilometer radius of the stricken farm.