30 November 2010
Japan began slaughtering about 23,000 chickens at a commercial egg layer farm in Yasugi, Shimane prefecture where an outbreak of avian influenza was discovered.
The local government of the prefecture, 600 kilometers (about 370 miles) west of Tokyo, started killing the 23,300 birds at the farm after five chickens found dead on Nov. 29 tested positive for the H5 avian influenza virus.
Preliminary tests confirmed that the chickens had died of the H5 subtype of the avian influenza.
In an effort to prevent a larger outbreak, the local government decided to slaughter all the chickens at the farm while setting up nine checkpoints for disinfection and banned any movement of poultry within 10 kilometers.