Japan confirms 1st bird flu of season in Kyoto, to cull 200,000 birds

FILE PHOTO: Workers enter a poultry farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, to cull chickens after an outbreak of avian flu was detected there in January, 2026. - The Japan News

TOKYO: Japan has confirmed its first bird flu case of the season at a poultry farm in Kyoto prefecture, a government spokesperson said on Thursday (Nov 12).

The avian influenza has killed 14 birds at the farm in Kameoka city in western Japan, the farm ministry said. The country has begun culling about 200,000 chickens there after testing confirmed the virus.

"The government is asking poultry farmers to make sure they follow strict hygiene," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said.

The ministry did not say which strain of the virus was confirmed. - Reuters