Japan culling 420,000 chickens to contain highly pathogenic avian flu virus. After 6 perished chickens on a poultry farm in Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu island were found to have died of the highly pathogenic avian flu virus, the government ordered the killing of all 10,000 chickens on the farm beginning Saturday, January 22. The cull order was expanded to an additional 410,000 chickens on Sunday after another 20 birds were found to have succumbed to the disease at a nearby farm. The government also banned 46 other farms within a 10-kilometer radius containing more than 1.5 million birds from transporting birds or eggs until the restrictions are lifted. This occurrence follows an episode in November in Shimane Prefecture, while, since October, wild and free-range birds infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu have been found in Hokkaido and Tottori, Kagoshima and Fukushima prefectures. In an effort to deal with this latest crisis in animal agriculture, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan convened a meeting with Cabinet members this past weekend and has stated that everything possible will be done to contain the epidemic.

Although it saddens us deeply to know of the sudden loss of so many precious lives, we appreciate the efforts of the Japanese officials to keep humans and animals safe from avian flu. May such killings be avoided as we opt for the safe and humane vegan solution, ushering in an era of vibrant health for all beings.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/01/23/Bird-flu-detected-on-Japanese-chicken-farm/UPI-56601295760706/ 
http://news.xin.msn.com/en/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4596761
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/8695390/japan-culls-10-000-chickens-to-contain-bird-flu/
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/6-dead-chickens-confirmed-with-highly-pathogenic-flu-virus-in-miyazaki, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110123a1.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_Ibis