The latest outbreak of avian virus may have infected migratory birds. That’s the word from the Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Shih Tai-hua, on Monday.
Shih said that three migratory birds found dead on a farm in Miaoli County were infected with the H5N3 strain, a subtype of the avian flu virus.
Shih said there is a close link between the deaths and the latest outbreak of avian flu, which has already affected more than 270 goose, duck and chicken farms in Taiwan.
“The analysis of the path and the subtype of the latest bird flu virus is consistent with the situations of the [three] migratory birds,” said Shih.
More than 260,000 ducks, geese and chickens have already been culled in an effort to curb the epidemic since it broke out last week.