Take our user survey and make your voice heard.
A whooper swan, which was found dead Wednesday in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, has tested positive for avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu, the Environment Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry has decided to test more wild birds over the course of the next week in order to determine whether other birds are carrying the highly pathogenic virus, TBS reported.
So far, several samples of bird droppings have tested positive for bird flu in Shimane Prefecture, as well as in a dead duck found in Koto Ward in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The ministry has asked citizens to avoid all contact with wild birds and to make no attempt to capture them or interact with them in any way.
© Japan Today
4 Comments
Login to comment
Stuart hayward
Haven't been hearing much about "bird flu" lately, I wonder what promoted the ministry to randomly start testing again?
In_japan
May be due to the recent Avian flu (H5N8) findings at UK farm I guess. They culled about 6000 ducks.
Vernie Jefferies
They initiated tests because of one dead bird?
nandakandamanda
In Holland too. Migratory birds from the north, it has been suggested.