TOKYO - Dozens of chickens at a western Japan poultry farm died of the H5N1 bird flu strain, agriculture officials said Wednesday, fuelling concerns about a series of recent cases in the country's poultry industry.
The bird flu outbreak in Okayama prefecture was Japan's third this year involving the H5N1 strain.
Two earlier outbreaks in southern Miyazaki prefecture prompted the slaughter of thousands of chickens. Officials are still trying to determine whether another Miyazaki outbreak also involved H5N1.
Authorities already began slaughtering chickens at the Okayama farm after the bird flu virus there was confirmed Tuesday to involve a virus from the H5 family, said Agriculture Ministry official Yasushi Yamaguchi.
The H5N1 virus has prompted the slaughter of millions of birds across Asia since late 2003, and caused the deaths of at least 163 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Japan has confirmed only one human H5N1 infection, and no human deaths.
