South Korea will strengthen hygiene regulations on poultry farms and install a livestock monitoring system as part of a broader effort to prevent outbreaks of highly contagious bird flu, the agriculture ministry said Monday.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced a set of measures to improve the poultry-farming environment as a series of avian influenza and sales of eggs contaminated with harmful insecticides sparked public concerns last year.

The new regulation requires local farms to give space to layer chickens larger than 0.075 square meter, up from the current 0.05 square meter. New facilities should be built in accordance with the new regulation starting in July, while existing farms will be subject to the new rule starting in 2025.

Most local poultry farms raise egg-laying hens in battery cages smaller than an A4 sheet of paper, barely over the minimum requirement. Keeping animals in such close confinement enables the disease to spread rapidly.

The ministry said it will support the merger of small poultry farms to maintain at least 500 meters between them and prohibit the opening new ones within 3 kilometers from winter sites of migratory birds, which are believed to be the cause of avian influenza strains being found in the country.