January 24, 2007

New bird flu outbreak in southern Japan

A new outbreak of bird flu was found at a poultry farm in southern Japan on Tuesday (Jan 23), raising fears a virulent flu virus that stuck the region earlier this month has spread.

Authorities were checking whether 500 chickens found dead over the last two days died from the H5N1 bird flu virus, which killed 4,000 chickens in the area this month, according to Agriculture Ministry official Yasushi Yamaguchi.

Of 11 birds tested so far, one has tested positive for bird flu--though it wasn't clear whether the virus was of the virulent kind, Miyazaki Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru told a press conference late Tuesday.

Authorities have banned the shipment of the farm's remaining 40,000 live chickens and their eggs, according to Miyazaki official Fumihito Shimbaru.

Miyazaki, about 900 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, is Japan's main chicken-producing region.