Cambodia reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza among backyard poultry near the Vietnamese border in what would be the first outbreak in the country in nearly three years, Reuters reported, citing the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) on Friday.

The virus killed 198 out of 334 backyard poultry birds on farms in the Svay Rieng province in the southeastern part of the country, the WOAH said in a report citing Cambodian authorities.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has spread around the globe in the past years, leading to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry.