A layer farm in Ganghwa County, Incheon, has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI). Poultry farm outbreaks this winter have risen to four, three of them at layer farms.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for highly pathogenic avian influenza said on the 12th that H5N9 highly pathogenic AI had been confirmed at a layer farm in Ganghwa County. The farm raises about 48,000 chickens. The infection was detected in a routine surveillance test.
This is the fourth outbreak of the 2026-2027 winter season, following Yeoncheon and Yeoju in Gyeonggi Province and Jangheung in South Jeolla Province. The headquarters dispatched an initial response team and blocked access to the farm. Culling and an epidemiological investigation are under way. The 28 poultry farms within the 10-kilometer quarantine zone will undergo thorough testing.
The temporary movement standstill in the Seoul metropolitan area runs from 4 p.m. on the 12th to 4 p.m. on the 13th. It applies to layer farms, related livestock facilities and livestock vehicles in Incheon, Seoul and Gyeonggi.
The government is also tightening quarantine measures for layer farms. It is sending 40 joint inspection teams to large farms nationwide that raise 100,000 or more chickens. They will check vehicle disinfection, management of quarantine facilities and legal compliance. Vaccination crews are barred from layer farms in Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong from 9 a.m. on the 7th to 9 a.m. on the 14th. From the 16th, vaccination crews must leave at least one day between visits when moving from farm to farm.
Inspections of the quarantine practices of 27 integrated poultry operators run through the 16th. Intensive disinfection of farm access roads, migratory bird habitats and areas around rivers continues through the 17th. Disinfection of access roads will be increased from once a day to at least twice. Operation of egg transfer stations and control of livestock vehicle access will also be checked through the 16th. Travel routes will also be examined using the vehicle location information system.
Lee Dong-sik, director general of the Quarantine Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said of the successive outbreaks at layer farms, "This is a serious situation in which further spread is a concern." He asked related agencies and local governments to strengthen thorough testing and quarantine inspections and to enforce movement restriction orders strictly.