H5N2 in Japan

A weak strain of the H5N2-type avian influenza virus has been detected in chickens at a poultry farm in Mitsukaido, Ibaraki Prefecture, where about 800 of its 25,000 chickens died between April and June, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Sunday.

The ministry announced a ban on transporting chickens and eggs from within a 5-kilometer radius from the farm to places outside of the area to prevent any possible spread of the virus, although prefectural officials who checked the site and nearby farms Saturday found no further abnormalities.

On Monday, the authorities will begin culling all of 25,000 chickens currently kept at the infected farm and disinfecting the site.

Read more here. Recombinomics offers some commentary on the likely source of the virus.