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Japan slaughters record 10 million animals amid bird flu outbreak: Top updates
Japan Bird Flu Outbreak: The disease has been found in at least 23 of Japan’s 47 prefectures this season.
Japan culled almost 10 million birds in a record outbreak of avian influenza which has already devastated poultry flocks worldwide, Bloomberg reported. Japan's agriculture ministry said that 9.98 million birds have been culled this season, which has surpassed a previous record in the year 2020.
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Earlier last week, Japan confirmed avian flu at an egg farm in Miyazaki prefecture that housed about 100,000 hens. This comes amid unprecedented bird flu epidemic in the world as supplies of products from eggs continue to get impacted.
The disease has been found in at least 23 of Japan’s 47 prefectures this season. Usually, the avian flu season begins each October as migratory birds shed infected droppings or saliva. The virus does not typically infect humans, although some rare cases can occur.
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Meanwhile, a Czech farm also ordered to cull 750,000 hens which is 15 percent of the country's total as Europe struggles to contain its worst outbreak of bird flu ever. The poultry farm is located in the western village of Brod nad Tichou is one of the Czech Republic's largest, Gabriela Dlouha of the Czech-Moravian Union of Poultry Breeders, as per AFP.
"The situation is very serious. Ten new outbreaks were announced in the Czech Republic in December alone [and] the pace keeps accelerating," the state veterinary administration SVS said.
