SYDNEY - Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected at a poultry farm in New Zealand's South Island, authorities said on Monday, the first time the island nation has reported a highly pathogenic variant of avian influenza.

Tests showed a rural chicken farm in the Otago region identified the H7N6 subtype, Biosecurity New Zealand said in a statement. It is not the H5N1 type that has spread globally and raised fears of human transmission.

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"We are taking the find seriously ... our testing shows it is unrelated to a H7 strain that was identified in Australia earlier this year," an official said.