Despite the government being on the highest alert, more suspected cases of bird flu were found in South Korea on Wednesday, raising the specter of another massive outbreak of the virus in just two months.

“It looks like a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is becoming an indigenous animal epidemic here. The government must devise fundamental measures,” Rep. Lee Kai-ho, a member of President Moon Jae-in‘s de facto transition team, said during a briefing by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The ministry said it would look further into the sudden outbreak of the H5N8 virus strain, believed to be less likely in the warm season so far, while continuing carry out culls to curb its spread.

All transportation of live poultry was halted for 24 hours on Wednesday, while small-scale farms with less than 100 livestock were recommended to carry out a cull.

Approximately 176,100 chickens and ducks on 66 different farms had been slaughtered as of Wednesday, with the number expected to rise.

The first report of the outbreak came Friday, from an owner of a small backyard chicken farm on the southern island of Jeju after his birds died from the disease.

All domesticated birds living within 500 meters of the Jeju farm were culled within 24 hours of the first report, and shipments of poultry on and off the island were immediately halted.

Amid the ongoing investigation, authorities suspect some infected farms of deliberately delaying reports of the disease and vowed an in-depth investigation into the matter.

Min Yeon-tae, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s livestock policy bureau said in a press briefing Wednesday that this year’s sudden outbreak is believed to be largely due to a group of farmers’ efforts to conceal the outbreak.

“The nature of these poultry farms are more like distributors, which is why we suspect the possibility of delayed reports out of fear of financial loss,” said Min.

The ministry unveiled plans to strengthen punishments for farm owners who delay reports related to livestock diseases or deliberately ignore signs of an outbreak. The current law allows them to be sentenced to up to one year in jail or a fine of 10 million won ($8,900), but the revised law aims to increase these maximums to 3 years in jail or a 30 million won fine.

Concerns over a lack of relevant agricultural knowledge among small-scale farm owners have also been raised. Unauthorized “hobby farms” on 10-square-meters of land or less, which were not subject to government surveillance are now obligated to register with the government.

A special quarantine unit will be formed to inspect the trade of poultry and sanitation of bird houses.

Close watch over the illegal slaughtering of birds in traditional markets will be initiated and more hygienic packaging methods will be suggested to the vendors.

According to government reports, outbreak is thought to have started in a group of birds at a farm in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, which were later shipped to areas including Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. The Agriculture Ministry suspects the signs showed up in early May based on a retrospective analysis.

The outbreak this year follows one of the worst-ever bird flu outbreaks last year, which resulted in the demise of a fifth of the total poultry population here.

President Moon Jae-in pledged not to repeat the sluggish reaction shown by the previous government by encouraging authorities to take strong preventive measures and instructing Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon to keep tabs on the issue.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)