November 26, 2020

Bird flu in Japan spreads to Fukuoka prefecture

The Japanese government said the country's bird flu outbreak has spread to a chicken farm Fukuoka prefecture, following eight confirmed cases in Kagawa prefecture west of Tokyo, Reuters reported.

The latest avian influenza outbreak that was first discovered in early November is turning out to be the worst in the country in the last four years, and the first time the virus has seriously spread in two years.

Katsunobu Kato, Japan's chief government spokesman, said an epidemiological investigation team comprising Agriculture Ministry officials and epidemiology experts will be conducting an investigation into how the virus has spread.

The Asahi newspaper reported that roughly 93,500 chickens will be culled at the Munakata city, Fukuoka farm. More than 1.3 million chickens have been culled this month at Kagawa prefecture.

The last bird flu outbreak in Japan occurred in January 2018 in Kagawa prefecture. 91,000 chickens were culled then.

The biggest outbreak of bird flu in Japan prior to this latest spread was between November 2016 and March 2017. At the time, 1.67 million chickens were culled because they were infected by the H5N6 bird flu strain.

- Reuters