Guest guest Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040113wo21.htm Govt confirms bird flu cases in Yamaguchi Yomiuri Shimbun The outbreak of a highly virulent strain of bird flu has been confirmed at a poultry farm in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where about 6,000 chickens have died of the disease since Dec. 28, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and Yamaguchi prefectural government said Monday. It marked the first outbreak of the disease in Japan since 1925, a ministry official said. The outbreak occurred at Win Win Farm, located in the town of Ato. The farm breeds about 34,000 chickens there. According to the prefectural government and the National Institute of Animal Health, the virus detected in the dead chickens is a highly virulent strain of the H5 virus, in the same category as the H5N1 virus that triggered an outbreak of bird flu in the central region of South Korea last month. A ministry official said although there have been cases of humans contracting the virus after contact with infected chickens, there have been no cases reported anywhere in the world of humans catching the disease by consuming the eggs or meat of infected chickens. Nonetheless, the farm stopped shipments of eggs Saturday under instructions from the prefectural government. The prefectural government said it has ordered the slaughter of all the farm's remaining chickens, while banning other farms located within a 30-kilometer radius from shipping or moving chickens or eggs. The prefectural government is expediting its efforts to trace down the route of infection. None of the workers at the farm or their families have contracted the disease, and no neighboring farms have so far reported any suspected cases, a prefectural government official said. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry also instructed Win Win Farm to recall about 20 tons of eggs it shipped from Dec. 28 through Friday. The farm ministry began disinfecting all local poultry farms, while quarantining Win Win Farm. Outbreaks caused by the avian influenza virus have occurred in such countries and regions as Hong Kong, China, the United States and Germany. Six people who were infected with the virus through contact with infected chickens at poultry markets in Hong Kong died in 1997, confirming the ability of the virus to transfer from live infected chickens to humans. In South Korea, which was hit by an outbreak of bird flue last month, local authorities have slaughtered about 760,000 chickens, but there have been no reports of humans being infected with the virus. Since there have been no known cases of humans catching bird flu by consuming the eggs or meat of infected chickens, Masako Kurimoto, head of the farm ministry's health control division, said there was no need for excess caution. The initial source of infection is believed to be migratory birds, such as wild ducks. The virus may pass from the migratory birds to domestic fowl such as chickens and domestic ducks. It then either infects humans directly through the fowl, or after first passing through pigs and other animals. There have so far been no cases of person-to-person infection in the Yamaguchi cases. Hotjobs: Enter the " Signing Bonus " Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.