Posted on 02/18/2007 9:16:36 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
JAPANESE scientists fear that rats were responsible for carrying avian flu into four poultry farms over the past month, in an alarming development that suggests the virus could spread more quickly than realised.
A team of government-appointed specialists who inspected the farms in the Miyazaki and Okayama prefectures, in the country's south, believes that rodents infected by wild ducks from China may have been carrying the highly virulent H5N1 virus strain.
At all of the farms they found nets and coverings in place to prevent large migratory birds from coming into contact with the poultry. At three of the farms they found scores of dead chickens in areas furthest from the entrance of the coops, leading inspectors to believe that wild birds were not the direct source of the infection.
Toshihiro Ito, a professor of veterinary microbiology at Tottori University, who heads the team of specialists, told the Asahi Shimbun: "It's possible that small rodents, such as rats, carried the virus into the chicken coops."
The task force, appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said that nets and other barriers at the farms were sufficient to keep out large birds, such as ducks, but could not have stopped very small animals getting to the chickens.
If the fears were confirmed, it would be almost impossible for farmers to avoid similar outbreaks, the task force said.
Since Japan's first case of avian flu this year, in Kiyotake, on the southern island Kyushu, government workers have slaughtered more than 70,000 chickens and quarantined dozens of farms.
The H5N1 virus has forced authorities to cull millions of birds across Asia since late 2003, and caused the deaths of at least 163 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. Only one human infection has been reported in Japan, and no deaths.
A chilling development.
A demon_rat! Double jeopardy!
Of course, the pernicious Rats. What else to expect from them, given their determination to bring the civilization down?
"I'm half Jewish, half Japanese. I was circumcised at Benihana." -- Rodney Dangerfield
ping
"MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Moscow's best-known pet market was in quarantine on Monday as health officials confirmed a strain of H5N1, potentially lethal to humans, was responsible for five bird flu outbreaks around the Russian capital."
"Veterinary officials traced all five outbreaks, in separate villages around Moscow, to birds bought in the past two weeks at the capital's Sadovod market, commonly known as "Ptichka" ("Birdie"), where masked officials guarded empty stalls."
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