February 27, 2004

 

 

Japan Suspects New Bird Flu Case in Kyoto

 

Japan on Friday reported a new suspected case of bird flu at a poultry farm in the western city of Kyoto.

 

A Kyoto local government official said three dead chickens and two live ones had tested positive for the virus.

 

The local official said Kyoto prefecture first received reports on Thursday night that more than 1,000 chickens had been dying each day since around February 20.

 

Roughly 10,000 chickens have died so far, the official said.

 

The farm holds about 198,000 birds, another official in Kyoto said.

 

Earlier in the week, the government of Nagano prefecture in central Japan also said it was checking on what could be a case of bird flu.

 

A Nagano government official said tests had been conducted on six birds kept as pets, one of which had died in suspicious circumstances.

 

No official confirmation has been made so far in Nagano.

 

Japan has confirmed two outbreaks of bird flu, the first in January and a second last week.

 

Both cases were found to be the virulent H5N1 strain of the virus which has been blamed for the deaths of at least 22 people in Asia.

 

There have been no reports of the virus infecting humans in Japan.

 

Earlier this month Japan declared an end to the first outbreak of the flu, which hit the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi.

 

The second outbreak was reported in Oita prefecture on the island of Kyushu, across a narrow body of water from the site of the first outbreak.