Suicide for bird flu accused

2004-03-08 21:02

Tokyo - A Japanese husband and wife apparently hanged themselves on Monday after he was accused of covering up a bird flu outbreak in his family's poultry business, police said as experts warned that wild crows may be spreading the disease to new locations.

Hajimu Asada, 67, and his wife, Chisako, 64, were found early on Monday morning hanging from a tree outside a chicken pen in Himeji, about 480km west of Tokyo, a local police official said.

Police found a suicide note saying: "We have caused so much trouble."

Asada came under fire for not telling authorities that chickens on his Asada Nosan farm were dying in large numbers, preventing officials from containing the disease at an early stage. The government was considering criminal charges against Asada.

The bird flu has already killed or forced the culling of 100 million birds across Asia and killed 22 people in Vietnam and Thailand. Four bird flu outbreaks have been recorded in Japan, including two in the town of Tamba, near Kyoto in western Japan, where the two sick crows were found dead Friday.

The crows were found to be infected with bird flu and authorities warned the discovery opened up the possibility that crows could spread the illness.

- SAPA