20.01.2015

73,000 broiler breeders at a farm in Saga prefecture in the north-west of the island of Kyushu have been culled following the detection of the H5N8 avian influenza strain. 
On 17 January 2015, the local veterinary service in Saga prefecture received a notification from a broiler breeder farm on an increase in the number of dead birds. The samples from the dead birds were sent to the laboratory of the local veterinary service centre (Chubu Livestock Hygiene Centre) and it was found that the samples were influenza A virus positive. On the same day the centre started RT-PCR test and on the following day it was confirmed that the subtype was H5. Stamping-out policy is applied to the affected farm and destruction of all the susceptible birds in the affected farm (approx. 72,900 birds) was completed on 18 January. On 19 January 2015, the National Institute of Animal Health (NIAH) confirmed that the isolated virus is highly pathogenic to chickens based on gene sequencing and also identified the NA subtype as N8.