Japan's bird flu outbreak worsens, over 2 million chickens culled

A bird flu outbreak in Japan worsened on Thursday (Dec 10), with farms in two more prefectures slaughtering chickens in a record cull of poultry as the government ordered the disinfection of all chicken farms.

The highly pathogenic H5 subtype, which was most likely brought by migrating birds from the Asian/European continent, has spread to eight of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

While officials say it is not possible for people to catch bird flu from eggs or meat of infected chickens, they are concerned about the virus making a “species jump” to humans and causing a pandemic like the novel coronavirus.

All farms in Japan have been ordered to carry out disinfection and check hygiene regimes as well as ensure that nets to keep out wild birds are installed properly, said agriculture ministry officials.

The number of birds culled, at 2.36 million before the latest two outbreaks, exceeded the previous record of 1.83 million slaughtered in the year beginning in April 2010.

The government is calling for extra vigilance due to the growing number of infections at home and in Europe, which is in the grip of an outbreak.

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South Korea last week confirmed another case in an outbreak that has led to the culling of around 400,000 chickens and ducks.

Japan’s worst outbreak since at least 2016 started last month in Kagawa prefecture on Shikoku island.

In the latest cases, the virus was confirmed at an egg-laying farm in Kinokawa city in Wakayama prefecture, the agriculture ministry said on its website.

Three broiler farms in Oita prefecture on Kyushu island also reported outbreaks, it said.

More than 130,000 chickens at the farms in Oita and Wakayama will be slaughtered and buried.

The latest culls mean nearly 2.5 million chickens will have been slaughtered since the outbreak began.

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Japan has suspended poultry imports from seven countries including Germany.

Japan had a broiler chicken population amounting to 138 million last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Japan’s last outbreak of bird flu was in January 2018 in Kagawa prefecture, when 91,000 chickens were culled.

Before that, the biggest 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.