January 31, 2007

Japan suspects another bird flu case in Miyazaki

Another suspected outbreak of bird flu has hit southern Japan, a news report said Tuesday (Jan 30), amid growing concern about a string of cases at the country's poultry farms.

The latest outbreak occurred in the south-western prefecture of Miyazaki, which saw two separate bird flu cases earlier this month, Kyodo News agency said, citing unidentified government officials.

Officials were separately trying to determine whether the virus that killed dozens of chickens in the western prefecture of Okayama was the deadly H5N1 variety.

The H5N1 was pinpointed in the earlier Miyazaki outbreaks, which forced the slaughter of thousands of chickens in the region.