30.12.2014

An outbreak of avian influenza has been confirmed at a farm in the Japanese prefecture of Yamaguchi. The local government began culling 37,000 chickens.  This is the third confirmed outbreak of avian influenza in Japan this winter and the fifth outbreak this year. The two previous outbreaks both occurred in the eastern Miyazaki Prefecture. On 16 December, avian influenza was found in the city of Nobeoka. It was also discovered in a farm near Miyazaki on Sunday, 29 December, leading to 42,000 chickens being culled. In April avian influenza appeared in two chicken farms in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. As a result 120,000 chickens were destroyed. All five cases involved the H5 variant of avian flu virus.