It’s not good to be a chicken in Japan. 112,000 poultry were killed to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus. The birds were from two farms in Kumamoto Prefecture, southern Japan. This slaughter was ordered after the confirmation of several cases of avian influenza among poultry. It was the owner of the two farms who sounded the alarm after noting the suspicious deaths of several of his birds. DNA tests carried out on the remains revealed the presence of the H5 strain of the virus.
“We completed the slaughter operation Monday evening and have put in place preventive measures to prevent the spread of the virus to other areas,” reassured an official from Kumamoto, quoted by AFP. No other infections have been reported since.
As a preventive measure, the local authorities have banned the transport of animals from the two incriminated farms and from neighboring farms. To contain the epidemic, disinfection operations are underway, targeting in particular vehicles passing near the contaminated area, and new screenings are being carried out. A team of experts was dispatched to the site to determine the origin of the infection.
An endemic virus
The H5N-type avian influenza virus first infected humans in Shanghai in 1997 before spreading widely in 2003 and 2004 in Asia, Europe and Africa. Since then, the virus has continued to circulate endemically among farmed poultry in Asia, as recalled by the WHO. It constitutes a public health threat for humans because of its pathogenic nature for humans. To prevent the danger, the main measure remains to contain the disease in the animal.
