December 12, 2005

Bird flu detected in northern Japan

Bird flu antibodies were detected Friday at a chicken farm in northern Japan, Kyodo News agency reported.

Antibodies of the H5 strain were found in birds at a farm in Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo, according to the report.

It was not immediately clear whether the antibodies were of the H5N1 strain, which has killed at least 69 people in Asia since late 2003, or the less virulent H5N2 strain.

Antibodies indicate that birds contracted bird flu, but recovered.

Japanese authorities have culled millions of birds since bird flu hit Japan last year for the first time in decades. Most of the outbreaks have been in Ibaraki, and some were of the H5N1 strain.