Japan culls 42,000 chickens over bird flu
Iran Press TV
Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:12AM GMT
Japanese authorities have ordered the culling of some 42,000 chickens following the discovery of a fresh outbreak of the bird flu at a farm in the country's southwest.
The local government said Monday the decision was made after tests confirmed a highly infectious strain of H5 avian influenza at a farm in the country's Miyazaki Prefecture.
Authorities conducted tests on the poultry at the farm after the owner reported that several of his chickens had suddenly died.
The officials also requested farms within a 10-kilometer (62-miles) radius of the affected farm not to move their poultry outside of that geographic area.
The incident is the second bird flu outbreak in less than a month in the Miyazaki Prefecture. Japanese authorities ordered on December 16 the slaughter of some 4,000 chickens at another farm some 100 kilometers away from the second outbreak site.
A farm ministry official said they have not yet determined a link between the two outbreaks, adding that further testing of the strain would be performed at a government-supported research institute.
In 2011, some 1 million chickens were slaughtered in the prefecture due to the outbreak of H5 avian influenza.
CAH/HJL
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