Japan stops eating crow

2004-03-11 12:28

Tokyo - Japan took new measures Thursday to monitor crows and other wild birds amid fears they are behind the emergence of bird flu in the country.

Tokyo and Osaka set up hotlines for citizens to report suspect dead or crippled animals, while the central government dispatched two experts to survey wild birds,.

Since Sunday, three wild crows found within 40km of a massive outbreak at a Kyoto prefecture poultry farm have tested positive for avian flu, with two confirmed as carrying the virulent H5N1 strain.

The latest crow found in Osaka, the hub of western Japan, was confirmed to have the H5 strain, Osaka farm official Shinji Nishida said.

Twenty birds were tested for the disease from four surrounding poultry farms late on Wednesday, but all tested negative, he said.

"The people of Osaka are worried and so phone calls are coming to me," he said. "We've received 70 to 80 this morning alone. We are explaining things to ease people's anxiety."

Two environment ministry officials were sent to Osaka on Thursday to survey wild birds and nests in the area where the crow was found.

"There are now suspicions the transmission of the disease involves wild birds, so we are conducting this survey to understand it better," ministry official Kenshi Kanaguchi said.

Garbage-eating crows

Even in Tokyo, 400km east of Osaka, new action was taken in a city where a campaign has been going on for years to eliminate the large garbage-eating crows with a reputation for attacking picnickers.

"Because Tokyo now fears it may be affected by bird flu, we have decided to form a special headquarters combining all our agencies" if a case is discovered, Tokyo government spokesperson Shigeyuki Mori said.

"We are planning a 24-hour phone line to deal with calls about bird flu," he added, noting that no birds in Tokyo had yet been discovered with the disease.

The merits of crow pie

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara - famously once advocating the merits of crow pie - has sworn to rid the city of crows and the metropolitan government said that it had reduced the population from a peak of 36 400 in 2001 to 23 400 at the end of 2003 mainly by destroying nests and removing eggs.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party was also considering subsidies for poultry farmers that build chicken houses without open windows to prevent wild birds getting in, a farm ministry official said.

In addition to the crows, Japan has so far confirmed cases of bird flu on four poultry farms since January, the country's first cases since 1925.

The deadly H5N1 strain of the virus has killed 22 people in Vietnam and Thailand and led to the culling of millions of chickens and ducks.

- AFP