Miyazaki avian flu almost identical to one in China

The same H5N1 strain is believed to have caused an epidemic in South Korea in November last year. The National Institute of Animal Health in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, has been analyzing the virus after obtaining samples from dead chickens at a poultry farm in Kiyotake, Miyazaki Prefecture, in mid-January. The experts, citing test results of DNA samples, said the highly virulent strain of the virus might have been carried by migratory birds from China to Japan.

The test results showed that the strain found on the Kiyotake farm was at least a 99% match in terms of DNA sequencing with the H5N1 strain confirmed in China in May 2005. Scientists were shocked by the birds’ deaths because they had shared the view that wild fowl, in general, would not develop symptoms stemming from avian flu.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is trying to determine the route of the infection that ended up killing thousands of chickens at the Kiyotake farm, the sources said.