Japan has confirmed the highly pathogenic bird flu subtype H5N8 was detected at a poultry farm in the third outbreak of avian influenza in the country this winter, the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday.
The outbreak was discovered on Monday at a farm with about 11,000 egg-laying chickens in Izumi City in Kagoshima prefecture in southwestern Japan, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
It comes as several outbreaks of severe bird flu in Europe and Asia have been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health in recent days, in a sign the virus is spreading quickly again.
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