#4135
Martin W
Participant

    Here’s case – from Japan – where H5N2 (less dangerous than H5N1) was evidently diagnosed in large farms, but covered up.
    Have been cases where cover-up for H5N1 in farms/reports on infections only very slow to emerge.

    Quote:
    MITO, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) Police arrested four people Monday related to a poultry farm operator in Ibaraki Prefecture in connection with a suspected coverup of an avian flu outbreak last year.

    Police suspect Ikuo Eguchi, 58, Yoshio Maeda, 53, Takanori Nakamura, 36, all veterinarians at IKN Egg Farms Co., and IKN employee Tomohiro Nakane, 32, violated the Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control Law, which requires reporting any suspected contagious diseases in poultry.

    They also suspect an antibody test conducted at the National Institute of Animal Health in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, by a veterinarian at the request of the IKN vets showed positive, the sources said.

    The Tsukuba veterinarian is an acquaintance of the IKN vets.

    The four IKN employees allegedly failed to report a case of suspected avian flu infection to the Ibaraki government late last August.

    Polices searched IKN Egg Farms and the Tsukuba research institute in December and questioned the vets.

    The vets at IKN Egg Farm are also suspected of obstructing an avian flu test at three farms conducted by Ibaraki Prefecture last August by submitting samples taken from other poultry farms, the sources said.

    The prefecture has alleged that IKN Egg Farms committed similar misdeeds at two other poultry farms it operates in Ibaraki, prefectural officials said.

    Avian flu infections have been found at 40 farms in Ibaraki Prefecture since June, and about 5.8 million chickens have had to be killed.

    Veterinarians held over Ibaraki bird flu coverup

    Post edited by: martin, at: 2006/03/01 13:10