Bird flu found in Japan

BIRD flu has been detected in chickens at a farm in north-eastern Japan, and restrictions have been imposed on shipments of poultry and eggs from the area.

More than 800 chickens at a farm in Mitsukaido City, northeast of Tokyo, have died since April, and recent tests on some found they were infected with the H5N2 strain of bird flu.

H5N2 is regarded as less dangerous than the H5N1 strain that has led to the death and slaughter of tens of millions of birds across Asia since late 2003.