The Kyoto Prefectural Government disinfected a poultry farm Saturday in Tamba after an outbreak of bird flu killed thousands of chickens at the farm.
In response to an anonymous tip, the prefectural government discovered Friday that about 28,000 chickens raised on the Asada Nosan Funai Nojo farm had died during the previous week, and preliminary tests found that three of the dead birds and two live ones had avian influenza virus.
The Kyoto government later Saturday confirmed that the influenza virus was to blame for the chickens' deaths.
It said samples have been sent to the National Institute of Animal Health in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, to see if the virus is highly contagious.