6th Bird Flu Case at Farm Confirmed in Japan

Miyazaki, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)--A highly pathogenic H5 strain of avian influenza has been detected in chickens at a poultry farm in Miyazaki Prefecture, the sixth bird flu case at a domestic farm this winter, the agriculture ministry said Monday. Some 122,000 chickens raised at the farm in the Miyazaki town of Kawaminami, southwestern Japan, will be culled. The previous five cases occurred in Niigata Prefecture in central Japan, Aomori Prefecture in the northern region and the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido. According to the Miyazaki prefectural government, the Kawaminami farm told the Miyazaki livestock hygiene service center early Monday afternoon that some 100 chickens there were found dead. Seven chickens put through simple examinations have tested positive. On Monday, some 1,900 chickens were shipped to a facility in the Miyazaki city of Hyuga. These birds will also be destroyed. Areas around the farm in question have been designated as places where transfers of birds and eggs are restricted. On main roads leading to the farm, vehicles are disinfected. Within 3 kilometers from the affected farm, 27 other farms keep a total of 960,000 fowls. There are 114 other farms raising a total of 4.63 million fowls in an area 3-10 kilometers from the flu-hit farm. At a task force meeting, agriculture minister Yuji Yamamoto said the latest outbreak hit a region where there are many poultry farms. The ministry will send a team of specialists to Kawaminami on Tuesday. In Japan, there has been no report of human infection with avian flu virus through the consumption of poultry eggs or meat, according to ministry and other sources. END