An animal rights group has accused the Taiwanese government of covering up cases of bird flu over the last two years, after recent reports of outbreaks of the H5N2 strain of the virus.

The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan says the government discovered highly infectious cases of the virus in 2010.

The government did admit to one outbreak in December of last year, but Taiwan's premier says there was no cover-up.

(SOUNDBITE)(Mandarin) PREMIER SEAN CHEN SAYING:

"During that period of time, the agricultural ministry and also the health inspection council could not confirm whether it was highly pathogenic, so this was not a case of cover-up, they must follow their standard procedures. But after reviewing their report, I think in Changhua's case, actions taken to identify and exterminate the chicken problem were too slow. There should be more to discuss on that front."

But activists say the government under-reported the severity of the cases.

The H5N2 virus is less serious than H5N1, which has infected people as well as birds.

Only one documented case of H5N2 is known to have jumped to humans.

Travis Brecher, Reuters