Japan hits record bird flu outbreak
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 4th: Two more prefectures in Japan confirmed the occurrence 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 Japan’s Kyodo News Agency citing sources from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the 3rd, the newly confirmed outbreaks occurred in a poultry farm in Chiba Prefecture near the capital Tokyo and an emu farm in Fukuoka Prefecture. About 10,000 and 430 birds were culled on the two farms respectively.
As of the 2nd, a total of 54 outbreaks have been confirmed in 23 counties in Japan this season, breaking the record of 52 outbreaks confirmed in 18 counties during the epidemic season from November 2020 to March 2021. About 9.9 million birds were culled that season.
Japan has culled at least 7.3 million poultry since the first bird flu outbreak of this season was reported in October last year. According to the Japan Broadcasting Association, if the infection rate continues to rise, more than 10 million birds may be culled this epidemic season. (Ossa)