March 4, 2004

 

 

Kyoto Struggling To Cope With Bird Flu

 

Kyoto officials are trying to contain the second case of bird flu in the area, calling the situation the worst possible scenario.

 

The Kyoto Prefectural Government on Thursday dispatched a group of experts to the Takada poultry farm in Tanba, where three chickens tested positive for avian flu the previous day, about two weeks after the first case was detected there.

 

"We are facing the worst situation," Tanba Mayor Yoshio Yokoyama told residents through a local announcement system.

 

Tanba officials blocked off local roads Wednesday night as they investigated the Takada poultry farm.

 

Seven experts dispatched by the prefectural government are set to hold a meeting to decide countermeasures after investigating the farm.

 

Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada has also been working on the problem after the prefecture failed to prevent the second outbreak of bird flu.

 

"We are apparently facing the worst situation," the governor said Wednesday night. Takada farm employees on Wednesday told the prefectural government that 11 chickens had died at the same time, and after prefectural officials rushed to the scene they found about 20 birds had died in total.

 

The dead birds were sent to a local health office where three of them tested positive for the avian flu.

 

The infected birds will be sent to the National Institute of Animal Health in Ibaraki Prefecture for more detailed examinations.

 

The first case of bird flu hit a poultry farm belonging to the Asada Nosan company, which is located only five kilometers from the Takada farm in Tanba, around Feb. 20 and a staggering 1,000 chickens died.

 

Local sources suspect that the virus spread to chick

 

ens on the Takada farm from those in the Asada Nosan farm, although the route of infection has yet to be confirmed.

 

In a related development, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei said that the government might lodge a criminal complaint against Asada Nosan because the farm failed to report the first bird flu case to authorities.

 

Local officials investigated the Asada Nosan farm on Feb. 27, one day after an anonymous caller told them that many birds had died on the farm.

 

On Thursday, many police officers, about 350 local officials and 120 Ground Self-Defense Force members worked on the Asada Nosan farm to dispose of some 250,000 birds.