Worrying surge in bird flu outbreaks across Asia
There has been a steady rise in bird flu outbreaks across Asia recently, with Japan now slaughtering over 310,000 chickens and ducks in Niigata and Aomori after birds were found dead from H5 avian flu, marking the first time since January 2015 it has been found in the country and comes amid reports of wild birds being found dead on the Japanese coast lines. At the same time, South Korea is slaughtering at least 2.78 million birds, including 1.68 million it has already culled (nearly 3.3% of its poultry population) due to the deadly outbreak of H5N6 bird flu, a new sub-type that came from China in 2014, which can spread to humans and has killed at least nine people so far.

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JAPANESE health authorities have confirmed a highly contagious avian flu strain in poultry in two prefectures in northern Japan, with culling of hundreds of thousands of birds starting yesterday at the affected farms.

The government confirmed that the highly virulent H5 strain was detected in birds at a chicken farm in Niigata, where about 40 of them were found dead on Monday. Dead ducks at a farm in another prefecture of Aomori also tested H5 positive.

Culling of about 310,000 birds began yesterday at the Niigata farm and will continue up to Friday. Workers in hazmat suits dug holes and dumped dead birds in them to contain the spread of virus. About 165,000 ducks in Aomori were also being culled.

Officials restricted the movements of poultry and eggs within 3 kilometers of the infected farms. About 60 chicken farms operate in the neighborhood of the affected farm in Niigata, where about half a million chickens are raised. The farm in Aomori and two other neighborhood operators are specializing in French ducks known as “Barbarie.”

Suspected bird flu cases have been found in wild birds in those areas since early this month. Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto said his ministry was sending experts to the areas for investigation, while raising the caution level to the highest level. The Agricultural Ministry has also dispatched an investigative team to both prefectures.

Meanwhile, South Korea will cull 3 percent of its total poultry population to curb an outbreak of bird flu that has hit a number of farms across the nation, its agriculture ministry said yesterday.

Since a severe strain of bird flu known as H5N6 cropped up on November 18, South Korea has stepped up quarantine measures to contain the virus, including issuing a 48-hour nationwide standstill order for last weekend.

Despite the efforts, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said yesterday that four new cases of H5N6 had been confirmed in central South Korea.

That brings the total number of infected birds to 13 since H5N6 appeared about two weeks ago, according to the ministry.

To contain the further spread of the virus, the ministry will slaughter at least 2.78 million birds, including 1.68 million that have already been culled, the ministry said.

That would be nearly 3.3 percent of South Korea’s total poultry population of 84.7 million.