Japan’s bird flu outbreak hits record high
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 4: Two more prefectures in Japan confirmed the incidence of bird flu, bringing the number of confirmed cases of bird flu in Japan to 54 this season, the most since records began.
According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo which cites sources from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the 3rd, the new confirmed outbreaks occurred in a poultry farm in Chiba prefecture near the capital Tokyo and in a poultry farm emus in Fukuoka Prefecture. Approximately 10,000 and 430 birds were culled on the two farms respectively.
As of 2, a total of 54 outbreaks have been confirmed in 23 counties of Japan this bird flu epidemic season, breaking the record of 52 confirmed outbreaks in 18 counties during the epidemic season from November 2020 to March 2021. In that season an estimated 9.9 million birds were culled.
Japan has culled at least 7.3 million poultry since this season’s first bird flu outbreak was reported in October last year. According to the Japan Broadcasting Association, more than 10 million birds could be culled this season if the infection rate continues to rise. (Bone)
