The Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday 176,100 birds at 66 farms have been culled in the six days following the outbreak of avian influenza here.
The largest number of birds _ 144,000 _ were put down on Jeju Island, where a farm first suspected and reported the bird flu, Friday.
Birds at 18 farms were culled within a three kilometer radius from three farms on northern Jeju which were confirmed to have been infected with a highly pathogenic strain of the H5N8 virus.
The infected farms were found to have purchased birds from a traditional market, which in turn brought them from a poultry farm in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.
Meanwhile, the ministry also confirmed three suspected infections of ducks at farms in Gunsan and Iksan in North Jeolla Province day. This is the first suspected infection of ducks.
Two farms on Jeju, and one each in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province; Paju, Gyeonggi Province; and Gijang County in Busan were confirmed to have been infected with the highly pathogenic H5N8 strain.
The ministry ordered a transport ban and pre-emptive disinfection for all poultry farms for Wednesday. A day earlier, the ministry raised the avian influenza alert to the maximum level.