Chiba ¨C An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed at a chicken farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, the prefectural government said Friday.
It is the second bird flu case at a Japanese poultry farm this season.
The prefecture will cull about 40,000 egg-laying chickens at the farm and prohibit the transportation of 5.62 million chickens at 49 farms within a 10-kilometer radius from the Asahi farm.
The Chiba government received a report from the Asahi farm Thursday that the number of dead chickens was rising there. A simple test produced a positive result, which was confirmed early Friday through genetic testing.
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