TOKYO, Dec 1 — The Japanese prefecture of Tottori will cull about 110,000 chickens to stem the outbreak of bird flu, Sputnik quoted Japanese broadcaster NHK’s report on Thursday.
The suspicions of the disease outbreak arose on Wednesday (November 30) when 40 dead chickens were found at a local farm in the city of Tottori, according to the report. A genetic analysis confirmed the presence of a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in the dead birds.
A quarantine has been introduced for the transportation of chickens and eggs within a radius of a 3-kilometre zone around the epicentre of the infection. In addition, the export of chickens and eggs outside the 10-kilometre zone is also prohibited, the media outlet reported.
This fall, Japan registered bird flu outbreaks in the prefectures of Okayama, Kagawa, Miyagi, and Aomori, as well as on the island of Hokkaido. In total, about 2.9 million chickens have been culled in the country since the season’s first outbreak on October 28.
Bird flu is a highly contagious virus that can cause influenza in birds and result in their deaths. In the period from fall 2020 to spring 2021, Japan suffered the largest avian influenza outbreak in the country’s history. The virus affected more than a third of the nation’s prefectures, with about 10 million chickens culled in more than 50 farms.
— Bernama
