Japan - Bird flu busters start extermination of 25,000 chickens

Published: June 27, 2005

Source : Mainichi Daily News

Local government officials on Monday began the extermination of about 25,300 chickens at a farm where avian influenza was detected. Led by Ibaraki Gov. Masaru Hashimoto, a bird flu task force ordered the killing at the poultry farm in Mitsukaido, Ibaraki Prefecture. Officials of the prefectural government said that they would poison the birds with carbon dioxide then cover their bodies to kill the influenza virus. The virus found at the farm is H5N2, a weak strain of bird influenza. No illness has been detected among employees at the farm or their relatives. The extermination is set to take several days. Koichi Otsuki, an expert on microbiology at Tottori University's Agricultural Department, said there were two possible routes of infection. "The virus could have come via migratory birds from South Korea, Taiwan or other parts of East Asia, or it cold have come via people or things from North and Central America," Professor Otsuki said.

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