Cases of bird flu are rising despite strong quarantine efforts put forward by authorities.
 
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Tuesday that the highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of avian influenza(AI) was confirmed at duck and chicken farms in the Chungcheong provinces, where suspicious cases were also reported last week.
 
As a result, AI cases have been confirmed at 41 poultry farms in eleven cities and counties in five provinces — South Jeolla, North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, Gyeonggi and North Jeolla.
 
It is highly likely that more bird flu cases will emerge, as tests on suspected cases are under way in nine other regions.
 
About one-point-seven million birds have been culled in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease.