Thousands of chickens slaughtered for bird flu

Tens of thousands of chickens slaughtered for bird flu

30.12.2014

In Japan, the bird flu continues to spread. Because of an outbreak of the disease, the country's authorities have started emergency slaughter of around 42,000 chickens. The last outbreak of the virus killed about one million animals in the East Asian country.

Bird flu in Japan is spreading
Bird flu is apparently spreading in Japan. Because of an outbreak of the disease, the Japanese authorities have started the emergency slaughter of around 42,000 chickens. The news agency dpa reports that the action came after some chickens were found dead on a poultry farm in southwestern Miyazaki Prefecture on Sunday. The animals were then tested positive for the bird flu virus H5, the news agency Kyodo reported, citing the authorities.

One million chickens killed at the last outbreak
It was not until mid-December that around 4,000 chickens had been slaughtered in another facility because of an avian influenza case. The affected farm and other poultry farms in the area were closed and the area disinfected. In addition, disinfecting stations for vehicles had been set up on major roads in the area. It was initially unclear whether, despite the safeguards, there was a link between the two cases in December. In 2011, about one million chickens had been killed in the last outbreak of the highly contagious H5 virus in Japan.

Bird Flu Falls in Germany
Also in Germany there were several bird flu cases recently. Thus, the virus subtype H5N8 was detected in November and December in poultry farms in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony. Particularly dangerous in recent years, the pathogen H7N9 and H5N1 have proven. Often in infected people only after weeks showed typical bird flu symptoms. These are initially similar to those of a conventional flu. Common symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, and in some cases respiratory distress. Rarer symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain and nausea and vomiting. (Ad)

Image: Clarissa Black