Taiwan reports new bird flu case

Taiwan's animal and plant inspection authority reported a new bird flu case on Thursday.

The H5N2 avian flu virus was confirmed at a chicken farm in Yunlin county, where 16,800 chicken were culled to prevent further infection, the authority said.

The farm owners will receive a compensation for the loss as they proactively reported the unusual deaths of chicken to local authority.

Cover-ups can lead to a fine of up to 1 million New Taiwan dollars (about 31,500 U.S. dollars), according to the island's regulation.

This is this year's fourth avian flu case reported in Yunlin, a major chicken supplier in Taiwan. Over 43,300 fowl were slaughtered in the four cases.

The inspection authority has warned farms to strengthen quarantine and sanitation work as more migrant birds fly to Taiwan for the winter. Endi