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TOKYO : Japan has confirmed that its latest outbreak of bird flu was caused by the H5N1 strain which is potentially deadly to humans.
The result of detailed testing came after the government ordered all 52,500 chickens on the infected farm to be culled and imposed a 10-kilometer (six-mile) quarantine zone.
At least 1,300 chickens were reported dead from the outbreak in the town of Hyuga, in the southern prefecture of Miyazaki, as of Thursday.
The case was in the same province as a previous outbreak, confirmed on January 13 and later found to be H5N1.
In the earlier case, some 3,900 chickens were found dead on a farm, prompting authorities to slaughter the remaining 8,100 birds to contain the virus.
The agricultural ministry and local authorities are investigating if the two cases are linked.
Japan confirmed an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in January 2004. Since then, the nation saw several cases of outbreaks with the H5N1 strain as well as outbreaks with the less serious H5N2 virus.
- AFP/ir
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