Thousands of chickens in North Korea reportedly died from bird flu at a processing plant last month.

An unnamed source familiar with the North said on Tuesday that the reclusive country is believed to be devising emergency measures following the outbreak of bird flu at the Hadang chicken plant in Pyongyang.

The North launched a large-scale project to reconstruct five chicken factories in Pyongyang in 2001, which was completed in December, 2002. The Hadong facility is among them.

The source said that it wasn't clear if the Hadong factory was the only affected site.

North Korea's state media actively publicized last year that the country was strengthening quarantine measures against bird flu following the outbreak of the virus in Southeast Asian countries. There were no previously reported incidents of the virus in North Korea until the most recent report.