Japan slaughters 42,000 chickens in bird flu outbreak

Japan ordered the slaughter of 42,000 chickens on Monday as officials announced the country's second bird flu outbreak in less than a month.

DNA tests confirmed the H5 strain of the virus at a farm in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki after its owner reported that several chickens had died suddenly, the local government said.

Officials began the slaughter on Monday, and asked farms within a 10 kilometer radius not to move their poultry outside that area.

Later on Monday, a poultry farm in Yamaguchi prefecture on the southwestern tip of Japan's main Honshu island said it had seen a higher than usual death rate among its chickens.

Initial tests showed a positive reading for bird flu, but more tests were needed for confirmation, the farm ministry said.

The confirmed case announced on Monday comes two weeks after the government ordered the slaughter of 4,000 chickens at another site in Miyazaki - the first outbreak of bird flu at a Japanese poultry farm since April.

Local authorities locked down that farm and others nearby, with the movement of chickens banned while the area was sanitized.

Officials set up stations to disinfect vehicles traveling on major roads near the farm to prevent the virus from spreading.

It is not clear whether there is a link between the first outbreak and the second, a farm ministry official said, adding that further tests would be conducted.

The second poultry farm is 100 kilometers away from the site affected earlier this month.

Japan's agriculture ministry regularly warns farmers about the risk of infection, citing the continued spread of the disease in Asia.

(China Daily 12/30/2014 page12)