Japan launches bird flu inspections

The Ibaraki Prefectural Government launched inspections at all 280 poultry farms in the prefecture following reports that the highly-pathogenic bird flu had broken out at a poultry farm in Kiyotake, Miyazaki Prefecture. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries had also requested that all prefectures in Japan conduct inspections.

Officials from Ibaraki Prefecture’s northern livestock hygiene service centre visited a poultry farm in the town of Ibaraki that has about 10,000 egg-laying hens. After inspecting the conditions in which the hens were kept, the officials asked workers about how their chickens were raised and whether there had been any changes in the number of hens that died.

A worker said operations were running normally, but voiced fears that rumours could harm the farm’s business.

Bird flu broke out in Ibaraki Prefecture in June 2005. About 5.68 million chickens (about half of the prefecture’s egg-laying hens) were killed before the prefecture announced in June last year that the epidemic had ended. The prefecture’s livestock division plans to inspect all of the prefecture’s poultry farms within two weeks.