The Council of Agriculture said on Sunday that three new types of bird flu virus in Taiwan may have come from migratory birds, rather than from a domestic virus mutation.
The announcement was based on the results of gene sequence alignment for the H5N8 virus, as well as new strains of H5N3 and H5N2, found in local ducks, chickens and geese.
At a press conference on Sunday, the Council of Agriculture said that as of Saturday night at 6pm, there are 31 new farms where the H5 bird flu virus has been found, for a total of 445 farms. About half of the newly reported cases were in Yunlin County, southern Taiwan.