Bird flu outbreak in Japan worsens, over 2 million chickens culled

All farms have been ordered to disinfect and check hygiene regimes. South Korea and parts of Europe are also battling outbreaks

Humans cannot contract the highly pathogenic H5 subtype, but there are concerns about it jumping species and causing a coronavirus-like pandemic

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Officials in protective suits are pictured in Mihara in Hiroshima Prefecture ahead of the culling of thousands of chickens at a farm where an outbreak of bird flu was confirmed. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 5:00pm, 10 Dec 2020Updated: 10:36pm, 10 Dec 2020

A bird flu outbreak in Japan worsened on Thursday, with farms in two more prefectures slaughtering chickens in a record cull of poultry as the government ordered the disinfection of all chicken farms.

The highly pathogenic H5 subtype, which was most likely brought by migrating birds from the Asian/European continent, has spread to eight of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

While officials say it is not possible for people to catch bird flu from eggs or meat of infected chickens, they are concerned about the virus making a “species jump” to humans and causing a pandemic like the novel coronavirus.

All farms in Japan have been ordered to carry out disinfection and check hygiene regimes as well as ensure that nets to keep out wild birds are installed properly, said agriculture ministry officials.

The number of birds culled, at 2.36 million before the latest two outbreaks, exceeded the previous record of 1.83 million slaughtered in the year beginning in April 2010.