2,400 Chickens Die Of Bird Flu In Japan

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Article Date: 14 Jan 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry says 700 chickens died of bird flu in a farm in the Miyazaki prefecture last Wednesday, and another 1,600 were found dead in the same farm yesterday. Miyazaki prefecture is in the southwest of the country.

Authorities say all the chickens at the farm will be culled - about 12,000 in all. Measures have been taken to stop the spread of the infection, say officials. Areas around the farm have been sterilized, the movement of commodity items near the farm have been restricted (10 km radius). Within a ten-kilometre radius of the farm there are over 300,000 chickens.

Laboratory tests so far confirm the chickens died of an H5 bird flu subtype. Further tests are needed to find out whether it was the virulent H5N1 strain.

Officials say there are no reports of human infections.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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