AFP, TOKYO:  Japan began killing about 122,000 farm birds yesterday to contain another outbreak of a highly contagious strain of avian flu, officials said.
It is the sixth mass cull this winter, with nearly a million birds slaughtered in total as the virus has been detected at several farms across the country.
The highly virulent H5 strain was found in chickens at a farm in the town of Kawaminami in southwestern Japan’s Miyazaki prefecture, according to a statement released by the local government. “We began killing farm birds today at 3:00 am (1800 GMT, Monday) with 380 people” involved including the military, a local government official told AFP.