Chickens at a poultry farm in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, tested positive for bird flu in an abbreviated examination, the prefectural government said Tuesday, following outbreaks of a highly lethal strain of avian influenza in Miyazaki Prefecture. The Kagoshima farm raises some 8,600 chickens to collect eggs. There are around 160 poultry farms within a 10-kilometer radius from the farm in question, with some 5.25 million birds bred.

Local authorities plan to examine the chickens more closely. The Environment Ministry meanwhile said it began research Tuesday to see if infections with the highly lethal strain have spread in Miyazaki.