Bird flu spreads further in Japan

JAPAN: Japanese health authorities Thursday said a fifth outbreak of bird flu since November had hit a poultry farm in the central region of Aichi, as local officials began a cull of 150,000 chickens there.

Since November Japan has confirmed five cases of bird flu at farms in four of the country’s 47 prefectures. Some 600,000 chickens have been culled.

The flu has also hit Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures on southwestern Kyushu island, which are major poultry farming areas.

In Miyazaki, a foot-and-mouth outbreak last year forced the slaughter of almost 300,000 farm animals.

Tokyo, Thursday, AFP