Japan culls almost 10 million birds amid avian flu outbreak

Country disposed of 9.87 million chickens last season between November 2020 and March 2021

Officials in protective suits head to a poultry farm for a suspected bird flu case in Higashikagawa, western Japan in 2020 (REUTERS)

Japan culled a record number of chickens at poultry farms in 2022 as cases of highly infectious avian influenza surged across the country, its farm ministry said.

The number of culled birds rose to 9.98 million after a perfecture in Tokyo began the slaughter of around 930,000 chickens at a farm, the ministry said on Monday.

Culling began at a farm of Shirosato town in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, after genetic testing confirmed avian flu in some of the birds.

A record number of 56 infections of bird flu were confirmed across 23 of the country’s prefectures this season, according to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The culling of poultry rose from the previous record of 9.87 million slaughtered between November 2020 and March 2021.

Avian or bird flu is a infectious disease of poultry and wild birds that can speak through entire flocks of commercial or domestic birds in a matter of days and cause deaths.

There is believed to be no risk of the virus spreading to humans (EPA)

The strain spreads through bird droppings, saliva or contaminated feed and water.

The first case of bird flu this year was detected on a poultry farm in Okayama in western Japan in October.

More than 430 emus were culled after more infections were detected in Fukuoka prefecture earlier this month.

The ministry of agriculture has called farms to ramp up efforts to prevent the spread of flu and continue thorough disinfection at the poultry farms.

The record disposal of birds has led to soaring prices of chicken meat and eggs across the country with food processing companies manufacturing ready-to-eat products complaining of shortages in the supply chain.

Authorities believe the latest round of bird flu in Japan was caused by migratory birds.

News of the culling comes as Europe is under the grip of what experts have called the “most devastating” outbreak of bird flu ever.

Around 2,500 bird flu outbreaks were detected in the farms of 37 European countries from October 2021 to September 2022, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the EU said.

Some “50 million birds were slaughtered” on affected farms at that time, the EFSA reported, adding that it did not include preventive culls of chickens, ducks and turkeys.