Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 12/30/14


Officials in Japan are taking steps to contain a second outbreak of avian influenza in the same prefecture where another poultry farm culled 4,000 infected chickens earlier this month, according to The Japan Times.

Authorities have begun culling about 42,000 chickens at the farm in Miyazaki prefecture after DNA tests confirmed the presence of the H5 strain of bird flu over the weekend. Local authorities have also banned the movement of an estimated 1.9 million chickens at other poultry farms within a 62-mile radius of the affected area. Vehicles are also being stopped on major roads near the latest affected farm and going through sanitizing procedures.

Two weeks ago, another poultry farm in the southwest region of Japan in the town of Nobeoka reported the first outbreak of H5N8 bird flu in Japan since April.

Local officials are unsure whether the two reported cases are related, even as related ministries take steps to ensure that proper quarantine efforts are being put into place, according to the report.

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