January 12, 2007

Initial test indicates H5N1 bird flu in Japan

The Japanese government decided Friday (Jan 12) to conduct inspections of poultry farms nationwide after preliminary tests showed that 750 chickens in a farm in southern Japan died of bird flu.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said it suspects the deaths were caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird-flu strain, which can be deadly in humans.

Definitive test results were expected Friday night.

The deaths occurred on a poultry farm in Kiyotake, Miyazaki prefecture, that has 12,000 chickens. The birds died Wednesday and Thursday.

The ministry has set up a special task force to track down the source of the virus and ordered poultry farms nationwide to take preventative measures.

The last H5N1 bird flu outbreak in Japan was in January 2004.

Following the announcements, South Korea decided Friday to put a temporary ban on Japanese poultry imports.