JAPAN TO CULL 310,000 CHICKENS AMID BIRD FLU OUTBREAK

Mon 25 December 2022:

About 310,000 chickens will be culled in central Aichi Prefecture in Japan due to an outbreak of bird flu, the Kyodo news agency reported on Monday.

Local authorities say this is the first such outbreak in the past 11 years.

On Sunday, workers at a farm in Aichi discovered an unusually high number of dead chickens.

Out of 13 dead chickens, six were found to have suffered from bird flu.

According to Kyodo, another 34,000 chickens were culled in the prefecture of Kagoshima amid a bird flu outbreak.

Over the past weeks, Japan has registered bird flu outbreaks in the prefectures of Okayama, Kagawa, Miyagi, Aomori, Wakayama, Tottori, Kagoshima as well as on the island of Hokkaido. In total, about 3.3 million chickens have been culled in the country since the season’s first outbreak on October 28.

According to CDC Avian influenza refers to disease in birds caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. Avian influenza A viruses have been isolated from more than 100 different species of wild birds around the world.

These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Wild aquatic birds include waterbirds (waterfowl) such as ducks, geese, swans, gulls, and terns, and shorebirds, such as storks, plovers, and sandpipers. Wild aquatic birds, especially dabbling ducks, are considered reservoirs (hosts) for avian influenza A viruses.

Wild aquatic birds can be infected with avian influenza A viruses in their intestines and respiratory tract, but some species, such as ducks, may not get sick. However, avian influenza A viruses are very contagious among birds, and some of these viruses can sicken and even kill certain domesticated bird species, including chickens, ducks and turkeys.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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