[Newsmaker] Another suspected bird flu case reported, total now at 79

A shopper chooses a carton of eggs at a supermarket in Osan, 55 km south of Seoul, on Thursday. (Yonhap)

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Friday it is investigating another suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the total confirmed caseload reaching 79.

The latest suspected case of the malign H5N8 strain of avian influenza was reported from Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The farm was raising 790,000 chickens.

The number of cases from wild birds also piled up to reach 117.

Authorities have so far destroyed 23.5 million poultry to prevent the spread of the disease, which led to a sharp increase in the consumer price of related goods.

The average price of fresh eggs shot up 37 percent on-year over the past week, with those of chicken and duck meat also rising 15.7 percent and 34.1 percent, respectively.

South Korea revised its anti-animal disease law in 2018 to cull all poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of infected farms. Previously, farms were only advised to follow the order.

The revision came after the country reported a whopping 340 cases of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza traced to poultry farms between October 2016 and January 2017. (Yonhap)