Bird flu outbreak on chicken farm in Japan: 50,000 birds culled

TOKYO – Authorities in Japan began culling around 50,000 chickens on Sunday following an outbreak of bird flu. The outbreak at a chicken farm in the northern Iwate region is the 19th outbreak of bird flu in Japan this season, the agriculture ministry said. The company had noticed an increasing number of dead animals and the cause of death was determined to be bird flu, it was said.