Lagatar24 Desk
Tokyo, Nov.16: Japan’s agricultural ministry reported on Tuesday that the highly pathogenic bird flu subtype H5N8 was found at a poultry farm in the country’s third avian influenza outbreak this winter.
The epidemic was identified on Monday at a farm in Izumi City, Kagoshima Prefecture, in southwestern Japan, with roughly 11,000 egg-laying chickens, according to the ministry’s website.
It comes as the World Organisation for Animal Health has received reports of multiple severe bird flu outbreaks in Europe and Asia in recent days, indicating that the virus is spreading rapidly once more.
“The NA subtype of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus was identified and it was confirmed to be H5N8 subtype,” the ministry said.
The rise in the number of persons sick with bird flu around the world this year is causing alarm among epidemiologists, especially as the world slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the World Health Organization, China has documented 21 human infections with the H5N6 subtype of avian influenza in 2021, compared to only five last year, with six people dying and many more gravely ill.
Russia reported the first incidence of the H5N8 strain being transferred to people from birds to the World Health Organization (WHO) in February. There was no evidence of human-to-human transmission at the time.
Following the first incident, Japan temporarily halted all exports of chicken meat and eggs from all regions, however the government has stated that consuming those commodities, if infected, poses no risk to people.
Last year, Japan experienced its worst winter flu season on farms yet, with about 10 million chickens slaughtered and nearly a third of the country’s prefectures afflicted.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Japan has an egg-laying flock of roughly 181 million chickens and a broiler population of 140 million.
According to the National Health Service’s website, antiviral medications can be effective against bird flu, but there is no vaccination for humans.
