Massive chicken cull begins as bird flu confirmed in Japan
14:45, 16 January 2015
OKAYAMA. KAZINFORM - Public health workers began a cull of roughly 200,000 chickens Friday morning at a farm in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, following confirmation that some had been infected with a highly pathogenic H5 strain of bird flu virus.
According to the prefectural government, the cull is expected to take four days, with roughly 50,000 birds killed each day. The dead birds will be incinerated in the operation that also involves Self-Defense Forces personnel and local government staff. The prefectural government has imposed a ban on the movement of chickens and eggs at six farms within a 3-kilometer radius of the farm in Kasaoka, and 15 other farms in a 10-km radius have been ordered not to ship their products. Source: Kyodo