Japanese authorities commenced the culling of approximately 50,000 chickens on Sunday following the confirmation of a bird flu outbreak at a farm in the northern Iwate region.
This marks the 19th bird flu outbreak reported in Japan during the current season, according to the agriculture ministry.
The latest incident came to light after the farm reported a significant rise in fowl deaths. Subsequent testing on Sunday confirmed the presence of bird flu, prompting the culling operation, the ministry stated.
The regional government in Iwate announced that the movement of 170,000 birds housed at two other farms within a three-kilometre (1.86-mile) radius of the affected site had been prohibited. Additionally, some 3.8 million birds within a 10-kilometre zone are required to remain confined for the time being.
On Thursday, a separate farm in Iwate and another in the central Aichi region reported outbreaks of the virus, leading to the culling of 120,000 and 147,000 birds, respectively.
Earlier, on December 29, an outbreak in the eastern Ibaraki region resulted in the culling of a staggering 1.08 million birds.
