26.06.2005

The H5N2-type avian influenza virus has been detected at a chicken farm in Mitsukaido, east Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture, where hundreds of fowl died earlier this year, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry announced Sunday. The ministry confirmed the infection of chickens with the virus at the farm about 800 of its 25 000 chickens died between April and June 2005,.
The Farm Ministry plans to limit the movement of eggs and chickens in a 5-km (3-mile) radius around the chicken farm to prevent the virus from spreading. There are 16 other farms that raise a total of 710,000 chickens within this area.
On Monday [27 Jun 2005], the authorities will begin culling all of 25 000 chickens currently kept at the infected farm and disinfecting the site. This is the fifth case of avian influenza detected in Japan, which last year found four cases of avian influenza, the first time since 1925.