Deadly bird flu virus confirmed in Date, over 640,000 chickens barred from being moved

The Fukushima prefectural government announced on Nov. 29 that gene tests had confirmed that the avian influenza virus detected at a broiler chicken farm in Date city was a highly pathogenic strain with a high fatality rate. It was the first avian flu case at a chicken farm in the prefecture. A prefectural task force headed by the governor met earlier in the day and decided to cull all 17,000 birds at the farm by Nov. 30. The other chicken yard located within a 3-kilometer radius of the farm, also in the city, was ordered not to move its 14,000 birds. Chicken shipments from 22 other yards located within a radius of 3-10 km, where a total of 630,000 birds are raised, were temporarily banned pending investigations into possible infections. (Translated by Kyodo News)