|
TOKYO : Japan's agriculture ministry confirmed Tuesday that the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is potentially deadly to humans, was behind the nation's latest outbreak of the disease.
Some 3,900 chickens were found dead on a farm in southwest Miyazaki prefecture over the weekend, prompting local authorities to slaughter the remaining 8,100 birds as part of efforts to contain the deadly virus.
"The examination conducted at the National Institute of Animal Health confirmed that the bird flu virus detected in Miyazaki prefecture was the H5N1 strain," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
It urged the public to stay calm, saying there were no known cases of humans contracting the virus after eating poultry.
Local agricultural officials began incinerating all 12,000 dead birds Monday on the farm, some 900 kilometers (558 miles) southwest of Tokyo, in an effort to stop the outbreak spreading.
They put the farm under a massive sanitation program while ordering 11 other poultry farms within a 10-kilometer radius not to move chickens and eggs.
"We have taken thorough measures based on the worst case scenario," said Koji Ishikawa, a health official in Miyazaki prefecture.
"Regardless of whether it is H5N1 or H5N2, we still don't know exactly how damaging the viruses would be to human health," he told AFP.
"The H5N1 strain has caused widespread damage in Southeast Asia, while we still don't know how bad the H5N2 strain found in Ibaraki prefecture is, although it is said to be not so contagious," he added.
Hong Kong, which was the scene of the world's first reported major bird flu outbreak among humans in 1997, on Monday announced it had banned all poultry imports from Japan with immediate effect.
Japan confirmed a case of H5N1 in January 2004, which was the country's first bird flu outbreak since 1925.
Since then, the nation has seen several cases of outbreaks with the H5N1 strain. In 2005, the H5N2 virus was discovered in poultry farms in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.
Although the H5N2 strain has less toxicity than H5N1, the government killed all 5.68 million chickens on the farms where it was found to prevent possible genetic mutation to stronger strains.
The Japanese government said in January 2006 that 77 farm workers had been infected with H5N2, but they no longer showed any symptoms.
Japan has reported no human deaths from avian influenza, which is spread through contact with sick animals.
Health experts have warned that four bird flu deaths in Indonesia and a spate of new poultry outbreaks in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia are signs that the virus could make a resurgence this northern winter.
The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed about 160 people worldwide since late 2003, and is transmitted through contact with infected birds' waste.
Health officials have warned that if the disease mutated into a form easily transmissible by humans, it could cause a pandemic with the potential to kill millions of people. - AFP /dt
|
|
|
