KYOTO, Japan, March 7 (UPI) -- Authorities are asking poultry farmers in Kyoto, Japan, to prevent crows from mixing with chickens after bird flu virus was found in two crows.
Virus from the birds, found dead in Kyoto Prefecture, will be tested to determine the specific virus strain, government officials told the Mainichi News on Sunday.
The bird flu virus was found Friday in a crow at a poultry farm in Tanba, and in another crow in the nearby town of Sonobe.
The prefectural government has begun a campaign to capture wild birds in the area in an attempt to trace the infection, the Kyodo News Service said.
Local officials said they will dispose of some 4,700 tons of dead chickens and their excrement -- all linked to bird flu virus -- in pits dug at two farms in Tanba, according to Kyodo.
Under national guidelines to prevent the spread the virus, chickens exposed to bird flu virus, their eggs, feed and droppings must be considered contaminated, and thus must be burned or buries.
