Miyazaki, JAPAN: Miyazaki Prefecture said Tuesday that avian influenza infections believed to be from a highly pathogenic virus have been confirmed at a chicken farm in the city of Hyuga in the southwestern Japan prefecture.

Miyazaki is the fourth prefecture where bird flu has hit a poultry farm this year, after Kagawa Prefecture in western Japan, Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan and the western prefecture of Hyogo. With Miyazaki one of the biggest chicken-producing areas in Japan, the local economy would be hit hard if infection spreads.

The bird flu outbreak in Miyazaki is the first since January 2017. The prefectural government has started culling some 40,000 chickens raised at the affected farm in order to prevent the spread of infection.

There are no chicken farms within a 3-kilometer radius of the farm, while 16 farms in areas of 3 to 10 kilometers are banned from moving their chickens or eggs outside of the zones. A total of some 550,000 chickens are raised at the 16 farms.

The Hyuga farm on Monday informed the prefectural government of an increase in the number of dead chickens there.

A simple test conducted by the prefecture’s livestock health office found infections among 10 chickens at the farm. A genetic test later detected an H5 subtype virus from the birds.

JIJI Press