January 24, 2007

Miyazaki avian flu almost identical to one in China

Japanese scientists have found that the strain of bird flu that killed thousands of chickens in Miyazaki Prefecture is almost identical to the one in China.

The same H5N1 strain is believed to have caused an epidemic in South Korea in November last year, according to the National Institute of Animal Health in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The institute has been analyzing the virus after obtaining samples from dead chickens at a poultry farm in Kiyotake, Miyazaki Prefecture, in mid-January. The experts said the highly virulent strain of the virus might have been carried by migratory birds from China to Japan.

If so, it would have been a surprising finding as wild fowl generally do not display signs of bird flu.

The test results showed that the strain found on the Kiyotake farm was at least a 99 percent match in terms of DNA sequencing with the H5N1 strain confirmed in China in May 2005.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is currently investigating the route of infection at the Miyazaki Farm.