July 2, 2004

Japan's Avian Influenza Linked To Migratory Birds From Korean Peninsula

Wild migratory birds from the Korean peninsula might have brought bird flu into Japan, a Japanese government report said.

In its final report on this year's deadly outbreak, an agriculture ministry research team said DNA samples taken from the bird flu strain detected in Japan were virtually identical to those from the virus in South Korea.

The Japanese government has so far confirmed four cases of bird flu domestically since January, the first in the country since 1925.

Ten Asian nations, including Japan, were affected by outbreaks of the virus, with the H5N1 strain killing 24 people in Vietnam and Thailand this year. Millions of chickens and ducks were culled in a bid to halt the disease's spread.

Japan has found no cases of humans infected with the disease.

The report said that there was no evidence that the virus had been brought into Japan by people or materials through areas such as the Korean peninsula.

It added that wild ducks, strongly resistant to the virus, could be carriers and that migratory water flows were widely spotted in areas where the four cases were detected.

"It can be concluded that there is the possibility of the virus being brought into our country by migratory birds from such places as the Korean peninsula," the report said.