Tokyo: Avian flu has been confirmed at a chicken farm in Akita prefecture, northeastern Japan, with around 1,43,000 birds of the farm to be culled, the prefectural government said Wednesday.
Regarded as the season’s first outbreak of avian influenza in Japan, it was confirmed through genetic testing carried out at a chicken farm in Yokote following a simple test the previous day in which the stock tested positive.
The Akita prefectural government has banned the delivery of chickens or eggs from farms within 10 kilometers of the affected farm and asked the Self-Defense Force to send troops to help resolve the issue, Xinhua news agency reported.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for the collection of information and requested the farm ministry and other government agencies to work jointly to take prompt and thorough preventive measures.
On Tuesday morning, a veterinarian reported to local health authorities that the number of chickens dying at a farm in Yokote had been growing.
A simple test given to 13 of the chickens from the farm showed 12 of them tested positive for avian flu, according to the prefectural government.
Meanwhile, Fumio Kishida was reelected as Japan’s prime minister on Wednesday after his governing party scored a major victory in key parliamentary elections.
Elected just over a month ago by parliament, Kishida called a quick election in which his governing party secured 261 seats in the 465-member lower house — the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber legislature — enough to maintain a free hand in pushing legislation through parliament.
The October 31 victory increases his grip on power and is seen as a mandate from voters for his weeks-old government to tackle the pandemic-battered economy, virus measures and other challenges. Kishida said he saw the results as a signal that voters chose stability over change.
Later Wednesday, he will form his second Cabinet by keeping all but one of the ministers he appointed when he took office on Oct. 4, and then map out his economic measures and other key policies at a news conference.
Kishida had been chosen by the Liberal Democrats as a safe, conservative choice a month ago. They had feared heavy election losses if the unpopular Yoshihide Suga had stayed in power. Suga resigned after only a year in office as his popularity plunged over criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his insistence on holding the Tokyo Olympics despite concerns of a virus surge.
The better-than-expected election results may give Kishida’s government more power and time to work on campaign promises, including COVID-19 control, economic revitalisation and strengthening Japan’s defense capability.
Kishida’s grip on power also may be strengthened by his Cabinet changes.