November 1, 2005

 

Bird flu suspected at a duck farm in western Japan

 

 

Signs of bird flu have been detected at a duck farm in western Japan and officials were conducting tests to determine the type of infection, a local official said Tuesday.

 

Preliminary tests on 10 ducks at a farm in Osaka have shown that some of the birds may be infected with avian influenza Type A, said Tadayoshi Nakai, an Osaka livestock farming official.

 

He said that it was not clear exactly how many of the 10 ducks may be infected. Samples were sent to the National Institute of Animal Health in central Japan, and results would be available as early as Tuesday, he said.

 

Officials were to inspect the farm, which raised ducks for human consumption, and another eight chicken farms that were within 10 kilometres of the duck farm on Tuesday, Nakai said.

 

The farms in the area were asked not to transfer birds and eggs while authorities conducted tests, he said.

 

The latest case followed the announcement Monday that authorities detected signs of bird flu at a farm in northern Japan, and planned to kill 82,000 chickens.

 

Influenza A viruses were divided into subtypes based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: hemagglutinin, or H, and neuraminidase, or N.

 

The deadly H5N1 strain has ravaged Asia since 2003 and killed at least 62 people there.

 

If the ducks tested positive for types H5 or less harmful H7, the farm would be ordered to kill its 780 birds, the official said.

 

Bird flu hit Japan last year for the first time in decades.

 

World health officials feared the H5N1 type could mutate into a form that is easily passed from human to human, possibly triggering a global pandemic.