Japan confirms season's 2nd bird flu outbreak

Tokyo: An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a poultry farm in Japan's eastern prefecture of Ibaraki has been confirmed, the Farm Ministry said on Monday, marking the second bird flu outbreak in the country this season.

All of some 72,000 egg-laying chickens at the farm in Kasama, Ibaraki prefecture, will be culled, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries said in a press statement.

The Kasama farm reported Sunday morning that about 450 chickens were dead, according to the Ibaraki prefectural government.

After a simple virus test showed positive results, a detailed genetic examination was conducted, it added.

This season's first case was confirmed on a farm in Kashima City of the southern Japanese prefecture of Saga on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Japan saw a record 84 outbreaks of highly pathogenic bird flu at farms in 26 of the country's 47 prefectures in the last season, with a record 17.71 million birds culled, leading to an egg shortage and price increases.