Japan's agriculture ministry has confirmed the country's first highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak of the 2026-27 season, at an egg farm in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture. About 200,000 laying hens are being culled.
The farm called the Nantan Livestock Hygiene Center after staff saw more chickens dying. A first test was positive on Wednesday and genetic testing confirmed the virus on Thursday, the prefectural government said. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said all poultry on the farm will be destroyed.
Kyoto Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki's office has banned the movement and transport of about 300,000 chickens on seven farms within 10 kilometres, the standard radius under Japan's bird flu rules. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara asked poultry farmers across the country to tighten hygiene. Agriculture Minister Arata Takebe said an outbreak "was possible anywhere in Japan" and called for early detection, prompt reporting and strict hygiene on farms.
The outbreak comes with eggs already dear. The ministry's survey put the average price of a 10-egg pack in October at 312 yen, the highest since the survey began in August 2003. Japan's bird flu season usually runs from autumn into spring, and wild bird surveillance had shown warning signs before this first farm case.
Europe is seeing the same pressure. In Germany's Brandenburg state, the virus was confirmed on 10 November in a small flock of about 160 ducks, geese and chickens in the Havelland district, which was ordered culled, after an earlier find in a wild goose in Oder-Spree. Germany's reference laboratory, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, says the risk of further spread among wild birds remains high during the autumn migration.
For poultry keepers the minister's advice comes down to three steps: early detection, prompt notification and thorough hygiene management.
Photo: Brian Johnson & Dane Kantner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Global Agriculture
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