AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT JANUARY 11

UNCLAS TOKYO 000224 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AIAG AMBASSADOR LANGE DEPT FOR OES/IHA COMELLA DEPT FOR EAP/J USDA PASS TO APHIS HHS PASS TO CDC HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER, BHAT AND ELVANDER DEPT PASS TO AID/GH/HIDN DENNIS CARROLL SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU KSTH ECON PREL SOCI JA SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT JANUARY 11 REF: A. 05 STATE 153802 ¶B. TOKYO 152 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. No human outbreaks of H5N1 AI were reported in Japan during the period from January 11 to 18. --- Kyushu AI Outbreak Confirmed to be H5N1 --- ¶2. On January 16, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry of Fisheries (MAFF) confirmed that the avian influenza outbreak in Miyazaki Prefecture, initially reported on January 11, was caused by the highly virulent H5N1 virus. The results came after the National Institute of Animal Health conducted tests over the weekend on chickens from the affected Taniguchi Furanjo Kurosaka Farm in the town of Kiyotake. On January 16, the Miyazaki Prefectural Government completed their efforts to disinfect the affected farm and incinerated 11,846 chicken carcasses - the farms' entire chicken population. This total included 3,545 chickens killed by the virus and 8,301 chickens culled after the outbreak was discovered. At a press conference on January 17, Kayoko Saka, Vice Governor of the Prefecture, said that the initial efforts to respond to the outbreak had been successfully completed. The Miyazaki Government has conducted investigations at all poultry farms in the prefecture, and no abnormal findings have been reported. MAFF has conducted on-site inspections at 8200 additional poultry farms in Japan, and has also reported no abnormal results. In order to determine the source of infection at the affected farm, MAFF has sent an expert team, led by Professor Kazuhiro Itoh of Tottori University, to the town of Kiyotake. After the outbreak was reported, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) conducted an immediate investigation of wild birds around the affected farm, and reported no unusual wild bird deaths in the area. SCHIEFFER