March 2, 2004
Kyoto Farm Shipped Birds Ahead Of Schedule
The bird flu hit farm in the Kyoto Prefecture. Where 133,000 chickens have died, shipped more than 15,000 birds to slaughterhouses ahead of schedule after the mass deaths occurred.
Hajimu Asada, chairman of Asada Nosan based in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, said on Saturday that the farm feared the slaughterhouses, in Hyogo and Aichi prefectures, would refuse the birds if they died before shipment.
But Asada later retracted his remarks after they were reported by news media. He said he had only "imagined" the chickens were shipped ahead of schedule.
According to Asada's earlier remarks, Asada Nosan Funai Nojo farm in Kyoto, run by Asada Nosan, decided around last Monday to ship live chickens from the farm two months ahead of schedule after staff saw mass chicken deaths.
The Kyoto Prefectural Government said preliminary tests showed poultry at the farm tested positive for influenza virus Friday and the results were confirmed Saturday. The farm earlier said it thought its chickens were dying of enteritis.
"We were lax in making the decision to ship the chickens and feel great responsibility for (spreading the virus)," Asada said. His remarks suggest he may resign from his job as deputy chairman of the Japan Poultry Association.
On Sunday night, the Hyogo Prefectural Government concluded that chickens shipped from the Kyoto farm to a slaughterhouse in Hyogo Prefecture were infected with bird flu.
Hideyuki Shimada, executive director of the association, criticized the farm's decision, saying, "It was totally wrong to ship chickens amid mass chicken deaths at the farm."
Asada earlier said about 1,000 chickens in two of the 10 henhouses at the farm died around Feb. 20. He said the farm decided to ship the chickens two months ahead of schedule after many chickens in other henhouses started to die.
The farm shipped 9,932 chickens to a slaughterhouse in Yachiyo, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday and Thursday, and 5,600 to a slaughterhouse in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.
