Japan has culled nearly 10 million birds as it grapples with a massive outbreak of bird flu, which threatens to put even more pressure on poultry supplies and drive up egg prices.
In a statement on Tuesday (10), the Ministry of Agriculture of the Asian country said that 9.98 million animals were killed this season, surpassing the previous record of 9.87 million that were slaughtered in the 2020 fiscal year, during a previous bout of avian flu.
The latest slaughter included mainly chickens, as well as a small number of ducks and ostriches, a ministry official told the CNN this Wednesday (11).
The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, known as Zen-Noh, gave a higher tally, saying that approximately 10.9 million birds were killed on Tuesday night.
“The supply of chicken eggs is expected to decrease due to the recent outbreak,” Zen-Noh, who is part of a national agricultural industry group, told the CNN . “The market price is expected to rise.”
The spread of bird flu has already driven up egg costs around the world in recent months. In the United States, egg prices far outpaced the rise in other grocery items in the year to November as the virus reduced poultry herds there.
This year, U.S. egg supplies “will remain tight” through the first quarter, though flocks should start restocking more quickly as avian flu risks are contained, according to a 2023 outlook report by Rabobank.
In Japan, wholesale egg prices hit a record high last month as shipments plummeted, according to public broadcaster NHK. Higher chicken feed costs and bird flu are worsening the outlook, it said, citing comments from the agriculture ministry.
Avian flu is caused by naturally occurring infections among wild waterfowl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infected birds can transmit the virus to other animals through their saliva and other bodily discharges.
In Japan, the situation may not improve any time soon, as virus circulation has reached an all-time high.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture said it had confirmed a new case of the disease at a farm in Hiroshima Prefecture, housing about 835,000 chickens. This brought the overall number of outbreaks nationwide to 58, surpassing the record of 52 recorded during the 2020 season.
At least 23 Japanese prefectures are now affected by the problem, up from 18 in 2020, which was the previous record, according to the ministry.
Source: CNN Brasil
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