South Korea has confirmed its first case of the highly pathogenic avian influenza this fall at a poultry farm in Gyeonggi Province.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced Saturday that the virus was detected at a farm in Paju housing approximately three thousand Korean native chickens.

This marks the first confirmed case of the season and comes earlier than in previous years.

Following the detection, the ministry convened a meeting with relevant agencies and local authorities to discuss quarantine measures and also raised the national alert level from "attention" to "caution" under its four-tier system.

Starting Sunday, the ministry will conduct a 10-day inspection campaign targeting around 20 similar chicken farms in Gyeonggi Province, 200 poultry vendors in traditional markets nationwide, and 120 livestock transport vehicles.