By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

A suspected case of avian influenza has been reported at a farm in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, the government said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the owner of the farm reported that 150,000 poultry died suddenly on Tuesday. The ministry has conducted a preliminary test and said it has a positive diagnosis for the virus.

It will announce the results of further tests to discover the strain of the bird flu on Friday.

The government immediately banned the distribution of chickens and eggs from the farm and 12 others nearby.

This is the first outbreak of avian influenza this year ― the last confirmed case was in March 2007.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr