Meat from 60 chickens shipped by a slaughterhouse where tests found the bird flu virus made its way on to the market, local government officials said Sunday, and some of the meat was used to make broth at an Osaka restaurant.
The slaughterhouse in Yachiyo, Hyogo Prefecture, purchased chickens from the Asada Nosan Funai Nojo farm in Kyoto Prefecture where 133,000 chickens had died as of Sunday.
The Hyogo Prefectural Government confirmed Sunday that the meat was from the chickens shipped by the Kyoto farm and that they were infected with bird flu. Local governments have started removing suspicious meat from the market.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said it has received no reports of people becoming infected with bird flu by eating chicken or eggs.
The meat was processed Wednesday at the Hyogo slaughterhouse for use in chicken broth.
Meat from 100 chickens was shipped from the slaughterhouse to a meat sales company in Minami Ward, Kyoto, and meat from 60 of those birds was shipped to restaurants and other businesses in various areas.
Some of the meat has already been used to make broth at a restaurant in Osaka, the Osaka Prefectural Government said.
According to the Shiga Prefectural Government, a company in Kusatsu procured meat from six chickens from the slaughterhouse, but no products were shipped and the local government had collected them by Saturday.
The agriculture ministry has confirmed that samples sent from the Funai Nojo farm in Tamba, Kyoto Prefecture, were infected with a highly contagious strain of avian flu.