Seoul, Jan 30 (TIWN) South Korea on Thursday reported the first outbreak of the H5N8 avian influenza virus this winter in a dead wild bird discovered at a river mouth in the southeastern port city of Busan.

The highly pathogenic virus was detected in the carcass of a whooper swan found at the mouth of Nakdong River, according to the country's bird flu response headquarters.

This was the first H5N8 virus case among 24 highly pathogenic bird flu cases reported since fall. The other 23 were confirmed to be H5N1 cases, Yonhap news agency reported.