February 12, 2007

Call for more than 4,000 Japanese chicken farms to be disinfected

More than 4,000 chicken farms in western Japan have been asked by the agricultural ministry to be disinfected to prevent further outbreaks of bird flu.

All the farms urged to disinfect contain at least 1,000 chickens.

This follows a series of bird flu incidents confirmed in Okayama and Miyazaki prefectures in recent weeks.

The prefectural governments will decide whether to comply with the request by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,

The ministry envisages the farms being disinfected from Saturday till the end of February by using powdered lime. Experts believe the viruses are brought into Japan by migratory birds.