330,000 Chickens To Die After Avian Flu Confirmed In Japan

A chicken cull in the western Japanese prefecture of Kagawa will, when complete, leave an estimated 330,000 chickens dead after authorities in the region discovered an outbreak of the avian flu.

It is the first such outbreak in nearly three years in Japan and affects the stricken site in Mitoyo as well as a number of other chicken and egg farms within a three kilometre radius.

Almost 1,000 chickens started dying daily at the point of outbreak with 3,800 deaths recorded this week to date according to reports.

No movements of poultry and / or eggs are permitted from he region as the local authorities rush to confirm whether or not the disease has spread to other farms on Shikioku.

Shikoku, one of Japan’s four main islands, although it is the most sparsely populated, is located just to the south west of the huge population centres of Osaka and Kobe.

In the wider region, there are estimated to be 115 chicken farms with over 4.6 million chickens although at time of typing, no other outbreaks had been reported.

The cull is expected to take until the middle of November to complete and will be carried out with the assistance of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces local government officials have said.

Speaking to the local media an unnamed man who also runs a chicken farm in the area said “I’m in trouble because I can’t ship eggs unless (my chickens) are confirmed negative in tests.”