TOKYO, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in the Japanese northern prefecture of Hokkaido have confirmed the first outbreak of avian influenza in the country this season, local media reported.
At a poultry farm in the town of Shiraoi, where the case was found, local authorities on Wednesday started to kill and dispose of some 459,000 chickens and placed a ban on the transportation of 620,000 hens at four other farms inside a ten-kilometer radius, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Workers at the farm in question found several dead chickens on Tuesday, with preliminary testing detecting the bird flu virus, the report said.
The prefectural government convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning. It was reported that genetic tests revealed the birds were infected with the highly pathogenic H5 strain of the bird flu virus.
Hokkaido officials plan to complete the cull by Oct. 30 and the disinfection of the henhouses by Nov. 2, the report said.
A bird flu expert said an outbreak can happen anywhere, as migratory birds possibly carrying the virus use various routes to reach Japan, noting that people around the nation should be on alert. Enditem
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