# 5261
On the heels of yesterday’s announcement that poultry in Kagoshima prefecture tested positive for the H5N1 virus – we’ve now reports that poultry in Aichi Prefecture – hundreds of kilometers to the north – may be infected as well.
If preliminary tests are confirmed, this would be the 4th outbreak among commercial poultry in a week, and the 5th in Japan since October
This story from Japan Today.
Aichi chickens also test positive for bird flu
Thursday 27th January, 04:02 AM JST
TOKYO —
The bird flu epidemic may have spread to Aichi Prefecture, where chickens suspected of being infected with a highly pathogenic avian flu virus were found at a poultry farm, the farm ministry said Wednesday, in what could be the fifth outbreak this winter in Japan.
At the poultry farm in Toyohashi, about 450 chickens died in four days through Wednesday. Four chickens there were tested positive for bird flu in a preliminary examination, the Aichi prefectural government said.
Meanwhile, the situation in Kagoshima Prefecture where bird flu was confirmed yesterday is concerning because of the large number of poultry operations, and the proximity of a major wild bird preserve, close to the infected farm.
This from the Daily Yomiuri.
Bird flu strikes farm in Kagoshima / Devastating blow for prefecture, farm in close proximity to crane site
The Yomiuri Shimbun
KAGOSHIMA--A strain of the highly virulent avian flu virus was detected Wednesday in chickens at a poultry farm in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, according to the agriculture ministry and the Kagoshima prefectural government.
The prefecture culled 8,600 chickens at the poultry farm and ordered other farms within a 10-kilometer radius to refrain from transporting chickens and eggs. The area has 5.22 million chickens in 162 poultry farms.
While the focus right now is on stopping the spread of the virus, there will no doubt be a great many questions asked over the next few months on how this virus managed to get past the bio-security measures mounted by these large poultry operations.
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