Japan to check crows and pigeons to contain bird flu

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2004

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan plans to catch and check crows and pigeons for bird flu, in its first nationwide crackdown on the disease which could spread further, a senior official said.

The government will ask prefectural health authorities to conduct sample checks after wild crows tested positive for avian flu earlier this week, Environment Minister Yuriko Koike said.

"I understand many people are worried about whether birds near them are safe," she told a news conference. "We have picked crows and pigeons, particularly domesticated pigeons" among many other birds for checks.

Three wild crows, found within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of a massive outbreak at a Kyoto prefecture poultry farm, have tested positive for avian flu this week.

Two of them have been...