A dead swan found on April 24 in northern Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture had been tested positive of the highly virulent H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, Xinhua quoted the Japanese Environment Ministry as confirming today. The Hokkaido Prefectural government has carried out inspections at five chicken farms within a radius of 30 km around the location in eastern Hokkaido's Notsuke Peninsula where the dead swan was found. It was the second Japanese prefecture where the H5N1 avian influenza was detected following that in northeastern Japan's Akita Prefecture in late April. On April 29, the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus was confirmed in several dead and dying swans found a week before in Akita Prefecture. No widespread deaths of birds or animals have been reported in the two areas.
