Genetic tests confirmed an outbreak of influenza A virus subtype H5N1 disease at a poultry farm in Tainai, Niigata Prefecture, the Japanese agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Thursday. It is the first confirmed outbreak of bird flu this season in Honshu, Japan, and the country’s third outbreak.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries issued a communiqué on the same day saying that the relevant authorities in Niigata Prefecture received a notification from a farm in Tainai on the 3rd. On the same day, they conducted an on-site investigation on the farm and conducted a simple test for avian influenza in chickens raised on the farm, the test result was positive. Genetic tests on Thursday confirmed that the farm’s chickens were infected with the influenza A virus subtype H5N1 virus.
Niigata Prefecture issued a communiqué that the farm outbreak is the H5 subtype of avian influenza outbreak. Authorities have begun culling, burning and burying about 630,000 laying hens on the farm. Other measures include designating a 3-km radius around the farm as a“Movement restricted area” and a 3-10 km radius as a“Removal restricted area”. Rapid testing of farms in“Movement-restricted areas” to confirm the presence of bird flu; and the setting up of disinfection points around affected farms to disinfect livestock-related vehicles.
The avian flu season in Japan runs from autumn and winter to the following spring. On October 22, a poultry farm in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, confirmed a influenza A virus subtype H5N1 outbreak, the first reported in Japan this avian flu season.