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TOKYO (Reuters) – Bird flu has been detected in a fifth Japanese prefecture, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday, as a wave of infections in poultry farms triggered Japan’s worst outbreak in more than four years.
Avian influenza was discovered on two egg-producing farms in the city of Mihara, in Hiroshima prefecture in southwestern Japan, the ministry said on its website. Humans cannot get bird flu from eating poultry or eggs, the ministry said.
Japan’s worst outbreak since at least 2016 began last month in Kagawa prefecture on Shikoku Island, adjacent to Hiroshima.
Just over 130,000 chickens on two farms in the city of Mihara will be slaughtered and buried, while exports within a 3 km (1.8 mile) radius around the farm will be restricted.
The new action means that almost 2 million chickens will have been culled since the last outbreak began.
The last outbreak of bird flu in Japan was in January 2018 in Kagawa prefecture, when 91,000 chickens were culled.
The last major outbreak was between November 2016 and March 2017, when a total of 1.67 million chickens were culled due to the H5N6 strain of bird flu.
Bird flu is being reported around the world, with South Korea confirming another case last week in an outbreak that has led to the slaughter of around 400,000 chickens and ducks.
In Europe, the poultry industry is on alert as a highly contagious, deadly bird flu is rapidly spreading across the continent.
Aaron Sheldrick Report
