Information received on 28 July 2005 from Dr Hirofumi Kugita, Chief Veterinary Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo:

End of previous report period: 27 June 2005 (see Disease Information, 18 [26], 176, dated 1 July 2005).

End of this report period: 15 July 2005.

Precise identification of agent: low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus type H5N2.

Date of first confirmation of the event: 26 June 2005.

Date of start of the event: 24 June 2005.

Nature of diagnosis: laboratory. The affected populations showed little or no clinical signs of the disease.

Details of outbreaks (data corrected and updated):

* 5 farms

Diagnosis:

Source of outbreak or origin of infection: unknown or inconclusive.

Control measures undertaken:

- movement control on infected farms and on farms within a 5-km radius of the infected farms;

- stamping out: all chickens on the seven farms (including the index farm) where diagnostic tests were positive have already been destroyed;

- disinfection of infected premises;

- on-site investigations on farms within a 5-km radius of the infected farms;

- the breeding farms where infected chickens were hatched have been investigated, with negative results.

Vaccination prohibited: yes.

(1) PCR: polymerase chain reaction