Japan confirms bird flu case, culls 4,000 chickens

Local officials of Miyazaki prefecture put culled chickens into bags, at a farm where three chickens have tested positive for a highly pathogenic H5 strain of avian influenza in Nobeoka, southwestern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Kyodo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Agricultural Ministry on Tuesday confirmed a case of a highly pathogenic H5 strain of avian influenza at a poultry farm in Miyazaki prefecture in southwestern Japan.

Three chickens tested positive at the farm and all of the roughly 4,000 chickens there have been culled, an official at the Miyazaki prefectural government said.