Bird flu cases rise to record high in Japan Kyodo News Posted at Jan 03 2023 02:47 PM TOKYO — Bird flu cases in Japan hit a record high after new infections were confirmed in Chiba and Fukuoka prefectures, the farm ministry said Tuesday. As of Tuesday, a total of 54 cases of avian flu were confirmed across 23 prefectures in Japan this season, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. At a poultry farm in Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan, near Tokyo, an avian flu case was confirmed through genetic testing, the prefectural government said, leading to the culling of around 10,000 chickens at the location. Bird flu was also reported at a farm that raises emus in Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan, with about 430 of the birds being culled. This season's first case of bird flu was confirmed in October, with the highly deadly H5N1 strain detected from samples of the infected chickens. The previous record was registered two seasons ago, between November 2020 and March 2021, when 52 cases were confirmed in 18 prefectures, resulting in the culling of roughly 9.9 million chickens.

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