March 8, 2004

Wild Crows In Japan Test Positive For Bird Flu

Two dead crows tested positive for bird flu in western Japan on Sunday, this country's first case of infection in wild birds, an official said.

Preliminary tests on four dead crows found Friday near poultry farms in Kyoto prefecture (state) where flu outbreaks have occurred showed that two of the birds had a type of avian influenza, Agriculture Ministry official Akihito Furuta said. But it wasn't clear if the strain matched one that has devastated poultry farms across Asia, Furuta said. Results from more precise tests were expected Monday, he added.

If confirmed as the H5N1 strain, it would be the fifth outbreak of the disease in Japan.

Because the infected crows were wild, the latest finding could add to the difficulties Japanese authorities already face as they try to halt the spread of the flu. Authorities suspect migratory birds may be spreading the disease.

Bird flu outbreaks have been reported in 10 countries and territories in Asia. The virus has killed or forced the cull of more than 100 million chicken or other fowl in the region, but has jumped to humans only in Vietnam and Thailand, killing a total of 22 people.

On Sunday, more than 800 Japanese troops worked to decontaminate two farms near Kyoto where the bird sickness had killed tens of thousands of chickens and led officials to destroy tens of thousands more to stop the outbreak. Kyoto is about 370 kilometres (230 miles) west of Tokyo.

Troops in full-body protective suits sprayed poultry feedlots with chemicals and used heavy machinery to dig pits for disposal of some 270,000 dead chickens, said an agriculture official with Kyoto's prefectural government.

The farm with the earlier outbreak, Asada Nosan, has come under fire for not telling authorities that its chickens were dying en masse, preventing officials from containing the disease at an early stage. The government is considering filing criminal charges against the farm's operator.

Authorities said on Saturday that tests on three of the 20 chickens that died on the other farm near Kyoto, in Tamba, a town five kilometers (three miles) to the north of the first, confirmed they were infected with the H5 strain. It was the country's fourth case.

An earlier suspected outbreak -- thought to be the fourth case -- at a farm in Shimane prefecture (state) where 74 chickens had died turned out to be unrelated to bird flu. Preliminary tests had turned up positive but further tests showed that parasites were responsible for the deaths.