Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirmed on November 4 that more than 1.5 million chickens will be culled after an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu at chicken farms in Ibaraki and Okayama prefectures.
A poultry farm in Ibaraki Prefecture reported an increase in the number of dead chickens Wednesday, and confirmed that the dead chickens were infected with highly pathogenic bird flu virus Thursday, reports said. The culling of about 1.04 million chickens at the farm has begun.
A poultry farm in Okayama Prefecture was also found to be infected with the highly pathogenic bird flu virus on Thursday, and about 510,000 chickens will be culled.
In late October, another chicken farm in Okayama Prefecture was infected with bird flu, the first such outbreak in Japan this season.
Around 1.89 million chickens have been culled in Okayama, Hokkaido and Kagawa prefectures since late October, according to NHK. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it would send an epidemiological investigation team to investigate the route of infection.
Post time: Nov-10-2022
