TAIPEI - About 58,000 chickens were culled in Taiwan after local agricultural authorities found chickens in two farms tested positive for H5N2, a strain of avian flu that poses no risk to humans, local media reported on Saturday.
Taiwan has banned the export of relevant poultry despite no infection of such virus that has been newly reported, according to the fauna and flora epidemic prevention bureau of Taiwan's agricultural authority.
The strain of avian flu was first reported by residents in central Taiwan's Changhua County in late December, 2011. Experts identified the virus as H5N2 after another case of infection reported in a farm of Tainan early last month, the bureau said in a notice Saturday.
All the chicken in the two farms were killed and samples took from nearby farms showed no abnormal conditions, according to the bureau.