February 16, 2004

Japan Set To Be Declared Bird Flu Free

Japan is to be declared bird flu free this Thursday, prefectural officials said.

The Yamaguchi Prefectural Government made the decision after confirming by Saturday that no chickens have contracted the bird flu virus in an area within a radius of 30 kilometers from a poultry farm where an infected chicken was found in mid-January. Prefectural government inspectors examined about 10 randomly sampled chickens at each of the 20 poultry farms in the area in the town of Ato.

The prefectural authorities are poised to consult with the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry before making the declaration, the officials said.

One of the chickens at a poultry farm in Ato was found infected with the virus on Jan. 12 - the first confirmed bird flu case in Japan in 79 years.