A series of bird flu outbreaks have occurred at an unusual pace, with nearly 5.8 million chickens slaughtered so far, the highest number of seasons.
The number of chickens slaughtered is expected to exceed 6 million in the future, and experts say, "January and February are the peak times of infection, so we want you to thoroughly manage hygiene."
Since November last year, bird flu has been occurring one after another mainly in western Japan such as Kagawa and Miyazaki prefectures, and then in Chiba and Gifu prefectures, and is highly pathogenic at 36 poultry farms in 15 prefectures. A sex virus has been detected.
The total number of slaughtered chickens was close to 5.8 million in breaking news, surpassing the number of low-pathogenic bird flu in Ibaraki and Saitama prefectures from 2005 to the following year, which was about 5.78 million. It was the most in two seasons.
After the culling at the poultry farm where the virus was detected, it is expected to exceed 6 million birds.
In a field survey conducted by a team of national experts, there are many poultry farms that do not fully comply with national hygiene management standards, such as gaps for wild animals to enter and insufficient disinfection of people and vehicles. It has been pointed out that the virus carried by wild birds to the surrounding area may have been brought in through wild animals, people and vehicles.
In addition, the virus detected this season has a long period from infection to death of chickens, so the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may spread without noticing the infection, and will report any abnormalities in chickens. I am calling.
Professor Yoshihiro Sakoda of Hokkaido University, who is familiar with bird flu, said, "January and February are the peak times of infection. I want you to reconfirm the basics of hygiene management and take thorough measures."