Another case of the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza has been found in at a poultry farm in Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan, the prefectural government said Sunday.

It is the fifth case found at a Japanese farm this year. All of the previous four cases were also detected in Kagawa.

To prevent the spread of infection, the prefectural government will cull all chickens at the farm in Mitoyo, Kagawa, which amount to about 79,000.

This comes after a report released on Saturday regarding an increase in the number of chicken deaths at the farm, infections were then confirmed in a test, according to the prefectural government. A detailed genetic test found that the virus involved is likely to be of a highly pathogenic strain.

In Mitoyo, a highly pathogenic bird flu outbreak was confirmed on November 5 the first such case at a farm in Japan in two years and 10 months.

The latest case occurred at a farm located some 1.5 kilometers from the farm in the November 5 case. The latest farm is also geographically close to the third and fourth farms.

According to the EU health and food agencies, the disease is highly contagious for birds, but the risks of transmission to humans are considered low.

JIJI Press