Japanese Bird Flu Outbreak Officially Over

local government in western Japan declared an end Tuesday to the country’s two most recent bird flu cases, marking the official conclusion of the outbreak of the disease in Japan three months after it was first reported.

local government in western Japan declared an end Tuesday to the country’s two most recent bird flu cases, marking the official conclusion of the outbreak of the disease in Japan three months after it was first reported. Last week a panel of experts concluded that a ban restricting movement of poultry and eggs from an area where Japan’s third and fourth bird flu cases were discovered could be lifted. Kyoto prefecture Governor Keiji Yamada lifted all restrictions on the area Tuesday, as scheduled. All four of the bird flu cases reported in Japan have been identified as the H5N1 virus, the same strain that has hit other countries in Asia and which has been blamed for 24 human deaths in Vietnam and Thailand. No humans have been infected in Japan, which discovered its first case of the virus in almost 80 years in January. The origin of the outbreak remains unknown, and the Agriculture Ministry has said it will remain vigilant and continue its efforts to try to track down the cause. Japan’s farm ministry has said that an estimated 240,000 chicken have either died or been killed at the four farms that were hit by bird flu. Japan has about 240 million chickens. (Source: Reuters Health, April 2004)