Additional bird flu case confirmed, total now at 68

South Korea's agricultural ministry Wednesday confirmed yet another highly pathogenic bird flu case traced to a farm, with the total caseload of confirmed infections reaching 68.

The latest confirmed case of the malign H5N8 strain of avian influenza came from an egg farm in Eumseong, 131 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The farm was raising 400,000 chickens. Authorities have issued a seven-day standstill order on all poultry farms in Eumseong.

The country confirmed another case from a farm in Yongin, just south of the capital city, the previous day.

Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul accounted for 18 cases and North and South Jeolla Provinces had 14 and 13 cases, respectively.

South Korea identified its first highly pathogenic bird flu case traced to farms in nearly three years back in November.

With no signs of letup, authorities have so far destroyed 19.2 million birds. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of infected farms are culled.

The figure includes 15 million chickens.

Over the past week, the consumer price of eggs rose 23.3 percent from a year earlier as more birds were destroyed, according to the latest data provided by the ministry.

The consumer price of chicken and duck meat also rose 11.7 percent and 35.3 percent, respectively.

Cases from wild birds also continued to pile up, further straining authorities' efforts to curb the spread of the contagious disease.

Since late October, South Korea has found 87 cases of highly pathogenic bird flu from wild birds. (Yonhap)