29.01.2011

The avian influenza virus spreads in Miyazaki Prefecture, with chickens in two more locations confirmed to have infected with a H5N1 virus.
It is the fourth and fifth outbreak in the prefecture. The farms are located in Kitagawa town, Nobeoka city, (6,600 birds) and Kawaminami town, Koyu district, Miyazaki prefecture (92,000 birds).
The local government has decided to cull about 92,000 birds at the Kawaminami farm and conduct a detailed investigation.

Meanwhile, all the 31,000 chickens at a poultry farm in Tsuno in the prefecture and its nearby affiliated meat-processing center were culled after 186 chickens shipped from the farm were found dead Thursday.

These outbreaks at poultry farms follow the season's first case last November in Shimane Prefecture, outbreaks in Miyazaki Prefecture confirmed over the weekend in the city of Miyazaki and the town of Shintomi, and those earlier this week in Kagoshima and Aichi prefectures.

 

Image: Perfectures in Japan with avian influenza cases of HPAI (H5N1) that have been confirmed since mid-December 2010.