Bird Flu Found in Japan Again While Russia Worries Over Growing Outbreak
Another outbreak of the worrisome flu has turned up on a poultry farm near Tokyo, meanwhile Russia sees its outbreak spread.
Compiled by staff
Published: Aug 23, 2005
The Asian bird flu, which is keeping the worlds medical community on alert, appears to be on the march again with today's announcement that another outbreak has been found in Japan. The Japanese Agriculture Ministry reports the flue has been detected in a poultry farm near Tokyo in the Ibaraki state.
All birds on the farm will be killed except those kept in enclosed poultry houses that were unaffected, according to a report by the Associated Press. About 260,000 chickens will be culled.
The strain involved - H5 - is less virulent than the H5N1 variety that has hit poultry and killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since 2003. Officials did find evidence that another farm had been infected, but no virus was found.
Meanwhile in Russia, a top veterinary official is requesting international financial help to fight against bird flu that he warns could spread around the world. Yevgeny Nepoklonov, deputy chief of the Russian ag ministry's veterinary service, says that birds blamed for spreading the H5N1 strain in Russia could carry the virus to Europe and North America next spring.
The flu was first found in Siberia in July, but has spread to five other provinces.
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