Despite the bird-flu outbreaks last month on farms in Miyazaki Prefecture, the famous chicken from the prefecture is flying off the shelves at least one Tokyo store.

Shinjuku Miyazaki-kan, which sells products from the prefecture, has had a huge leap in sales thanks to an endorsement by Miyazaki's comedian-turned-Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru. Miyazaki chicken farmers have not seen the usual plummet in sales after a string of avian flu outbreaks last month, including several of the highly virulent H5N1 strain.

In comparison, the nationwide outbreak of norovirus, typically found in shellfish, this winter caused a sharp decline in oyster sales.