It has been announced that the first bird flu epidemic of the season started in a chicken farm in Kurashiki city, Okayama province of Japan. It was reported that the virus, which was detected in the tests after the death of a large number of poultry in the facility, is the highly contagious H5 mutation of bird flu. While the state government announced that 170,000 poultry would be culled as a precaution, entry and exit to the area within a 10 km radius of the farm, where the epidemic broke out, was limited.
On the other hand, shipments of chickens and eggs from farms located within a 3 km radius of the quarantined facility were suspended. While it was learned that detailed disinfection work will be carried out through 4 different stations established in the region, it was stated that the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel would also support the work. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also instructed the staff of the relevant ministries to quickly implement comprehensive epidemic prevention measures.
TEN THOUSANDS OF ANIMALS DESTED
The bird flu epidemic, which was first seen in Akita state in November last year, spread to Kagoshima, Hyogo, Kumamoto, Chiba and Saitama states, and tens of thousands of poultry were culled as a precaution. It was reported to the public that the number of culled poultry exceeded 6 million in 2020, breaking a record.
It was announced that the previous record in the country belonged to the 2005-2006 season, when a total of 5.78 million chickens perished due to a less contagious strain of the virus.
(UAV)