Japan: acknowledges the first bird flu epidemic of the season in the Tokyo region

Japan: The 12th outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Japan this season, and the first in the greater Tokyo region, was verified by the country’s agricultural ministry on Tuesday at a chicken farm in Saitama Prefecture.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, the impacted farm, which is situated in Ranzan Town, Saitama, north of Tokyo, grows over 240,000 egg-laying hens.

Tokyo with the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa make up the larger Tokyo region.

All of the farm’s hens will be killed, burned, and buried, according to a statement from the Saitama prefectural administration. It also said that chickens at neighboring farms would be subject to mobility restrictions and that disinfection measures surrounding the farm will be bolstered to stop the virus from spreading further.

The ministry of agriculture said that it will send an epidemiological investigation team to the farm and increase efforts to stop the spread. According to Xinhua news agency, it also encouraged prefectural governments around the country to maintain vigilance and to rigorously implement early detection, timely reporting, and hygienic management measures at chicken farms.

The season for avian influenza in Japan usually lasts from the fall until the following spring. More than 3.65 million hens had already been culled as a result of the preceding 11 outbreaks this season.

The World Health Organization states that viral subtypes A(H5N1) and A(H9N2) are the cause of avian influenza, also referred to as bird flu, a form of zoonotic (or animal) influenza that afflicts wild birds and livestock. Humans have sometimes contracted avian influenza, although human-to-human transmission is difficult. Direct or indirect contact with infected live or dead poultry has been linked to the majority of human cases of avian influenza.

The illness has caused outbreaks and fatalities in 16 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East since it was originally discovered in Hong Kong in 1997. The highly virulent A(H5N1) influenza virus, which causes avian influenza, spread quickly over the Eastern Mediterranean region in 2006. Significant non-human outbreaks were documented in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, occupied Palestinian territories, Pakistan, and Sudan. It has been shown that humans may get the A(H5N1) influenza virus from sick birds in Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, and Pakistan. Since then, avian influenza has spread across Egypt’s chicken population.

The normal incubation time for A(H5N1) is 2 to 5 days, although it may last up to 17 days. Human infection symptoms include muscular pains, coughing, fever, lethargy, and sore throat. A pneumonia complication may cause severe illness or even death. Compared to seasonal influenza, avian influenza has a much higher case fatality rate in humans.