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Friday, Jan. 19, 2007
Bird flu virus in Miyazaki outbreak highly virulent: ministry
Kyodo News
The avian influenza that broke out last week at a poultry farm in Miyazaki Prefecture involved a highly virulent virus, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Thursday.
<table id="photoright" align="right" border="0" width="250"> <tbody><tr> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>A health official collects a blood sample Wednesday from a chicken at a farm in Miyazaki Prefecture to check for avian flu. AP PHOTO</td> </tr> </tbody></table> The ministry determined the degree of virulence through a laboratory examination of virus samples taken from chickens that died of bird flu on the Miyazaki farm.
The National Institute of Animal Health, which identified the virus as the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain on Tuesday, drew the conclusion after eight chickens inoculated with the sampled virus were dead by Thursday, the ministry said.
Based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, the institute will continue genetic analysis for the consideration of the ministry's panel of experts.
The H5N1 strain, a subtype of the influenza A virus circulating basically in birds, has spread mainly in Asia and has killed more than 160 people in 10 countries since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
Its latest outbreak in poultry in Japan -- the fifth bird-flu case here since 2004 -- occurred at Taniguchi Furanjo Kurosaka Farm in Kiyotake, Miyazaki Prefecture, causing the death of 3,500 birds in one of the farm's three poultry houses, mostly last week.
In the town of Kiyotake, inspectors from the Miyazaki Prefectural Government's task force Thursday checked bird-keeping households and homes within a 10-km radius of the farm, after they finished examining the 11 poultry farms with more than 1,000 chickens in the area Wednesday.
Ten households with at least 20 birds, including chickens and bantams, were selected for Thursday's on-site inspections to take blood and fluid samples from five birds per household, task force officials said, adding results will be released within a few days.
More than 150 households are breeding a total of around 1,600 avian species in the town, including parakeets and other small birds kept as pets, town officials said.
Bird flu virus in Miyazaki outbreak highly virulent: ministry
Kyodo News
The avian influenza that broke out last week at a poultry farm in Miyazaki Prefecture involved a highly virulent virus, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Thursday.
<table id="photoright" align="right" border="0" width="250"> <tbody><tr> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>A health official collects a blood sample Wednesday from a chicken at a farm in Miyazaki Prefecture to check for avian flu. AP PHOTO</td> </tr> </tbody></table> The ministry determined the degree of virulence through a laboratory examination of virus samples taken from chickens that died of bird flu on the Miyazaki farm.The National Institute of Animal Health, which identified the virus as the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain on Tuesday, drew the conclusion after eight chickens inoculated with the sampled virus were dead by Thursday, the ministry said.
Based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, the institute will continue genetic analysis for the consideration of the ministry's panel of experts.
The H5N1 strain, a subtype of the influenza A virus circulating basically in birds, has spread mainly in Asia and has killed more than 160 people in 10 countries since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
Its latest outbreak in poultry in Japan -- the fifth bird-flu case here since 2004 -- occurred at Taniguchi Furanjo Kurosaka Farm in Kiyotake, Miyazaki Prefecture, causing the death of 3,500 birds in one of the farm's three poultry houses, mostly last week.
In the town of Kiyotake, inspectors from the Miyazaki Prefectural Government's task force Thursday checked bird-keeping households and homes within a 10-km radius of the farm, after they finished examining the 11 poultry farms with more than 1,000 chickens in the area Wednesday.
Ten households with at least 20 birds, including chickens and bantams, were selected for Thursday's on-site inspections to take blood and fluid samples from five birds per household, task force officials said, adding results will be released within a few days.
More than 150 households are breeding a total of around 1,600 avian species in the town, including parakeets and other small birds kept as pets, town officials said.
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