Swan tests positive for bird flu
Japanese officials are worried that the H5N1 bird flu virus may be spreading among wild birds in the north after the body of a swan tested positive for the disease, the third case in recent weeks.
No poultry have been affected so far, said Shigeki Oda, a farm official in the northern island of Hokkaido.
He said, however, that health authorities plan to inspect three nearby poultry farms and to disinfect 180,000 chickens as a precaution.
Scientists at Hokkaido University were conducting gene tests to determine more information about the cases, Oda said.
The most recent case reported was that of a wild swan found dead on May 5 near Saroma Lake, with final test results confirming the presence of the virus.
H5N1 was also confirmed in dead swans in another location in Hokkaido on May 5, and in north-eastern Akita on April 29.
The virus remains hard for people to catch, but scientists are concerned it could mutate into a form that spreads more easily between humans, with the potential to kill millions worldwide.
At least 240 people have died from bird flu since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.
Most human cases have been linked to contact with infected poultry.
Japan has reported no human cases of the bird flu virus.
