Japan’s Ibaraki region confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu at a poultry farm in Shirosato on Thursday, marking the first case of the season in the area.
As a result, around 970,000 egg-laying hens will be culled, making it the largest single culling operation in Japan this season, according to Jiji Press. This is the 10th confirmed bird flu case at a poultry farm in the country, bringing the total number of chickens to be culled this season to approximately 3.65 million.
In the 2022-2023 season, Japan reported 84 bird flu cases across 26 prefectures, leading to the culling of about 17.71 million chickens. This record high contributed to a sharp increase in egg prices.
Egg prices are rising again this season. On Thursday, local egg seller JA Z-Tamago reported that the wholesale price for midsize eggs in the Tokyo area reached 345 yen ($2.21) per kilogram, nearly matching the highest price of 350 yen ($2.24) recorded between March and June 2023.
