North Korea has slaughtered some 219,000 chickens at three poultry farms believed to be the origin of recent outbreak of avian influenza.

An official with the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday the Pyongyang regime has taken preventive measures against the outbreak in areas close to the affected farms, and has put the nation on warning against the bird flu.

The official added that no human infections have been reported so far.

The FAO has yet to announce whether the latest outbreak is indeed bird influenza, and if so, whether it is the more virulent H5N1 strain.