The nation confirmed three additional cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza(AI) on Wednesday.

Authorities said that one of the cases was confirmed at an egg farm in Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province and the other at a chicken farm in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, while the third case was reportedly confirmed at a quail farm in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.

It marks the first confirmed AI cases reported from poultry farms since January 12, bringing the total cases since last October to 66.

The Central Disaster Management Headquarters on Wednesday decided to extend the period of a nationwide disinfection campaign for poultry farms by another month to the end of March.

It will also conduct inspections of some 33-hundred poultry farms and 120 poultry shops at traditional markets across the nation to detect AI infections at an early stage.