More Than 140,000 Birds To Be Culled Amid Avian Influenza Outbreak In Japan

Health authorities in Japan`s Akita Prefecture are set to cull more than 140,000 chickens after registering the first outbreak of avian influenza this season in the region, the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2021) Health authorities in Japan`s Akita Prefecture are set to cull more than 140,000 chickens after registering the first outbreak of avian influenza this season in the region, the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.

Over the past two days, 190 dead hens have been found at one of chicken farms in the city of Yokote in Akita Prefecture. Genetic analysis confirmed the presence of a highly pathogenic bird flu H5 strain in some individuals, according to the Japanese broadcaster.

A quarantine has been introduced for the chicken and eggs transportation within a 10-feet radius around the farm where the hotbeds of the disease were detected. Export of chickens and eggs has been prohibited beyond the 33-feet radius. In total, 143,000 chickens will be culled.

The avian influenza outbreak in the fall 2020 to spring 2021 was the largest in the history of Japan. The virus affected more than a third of prefectures, about 10 million chickens were culled in more than 50 farms.