The highly contagious avian flu has already ravaged poultry farms across Asia.

Authorities, confirming the first outbreak of avian flu in Japan since the Taisho Era in 1925, cautioned Monday there is no need for panic.

Thousands of chickens have been destroyed and tens of thousands of eggs are being recalled.

The highly contagious flu has already ravaged parts of Asia's huge poultry industry in recent weeks.

The flu is a strain of the H5 virus, similar to the H5N1 virus discovered in an epidemic in South Korea in December. Officials cautioned it would be several days before they can determine if the virus found at a poultry farm in Ato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is the same as the one that caused havoc in South Korea.

In the past two weeks, 6,000 of the farm's 35,000 egg-laying chickens have died. Authorities ordered the rest destroyed and the farm facilities disinfected.

Prefectural officials also banned the shipment of chicken products and eggs produced within a 30-kilometer radius of the farm. In addition, all eggs sent to market are being recalled from the farm.

However, prefectural authorities said many of the 365,000 eggs shipped from the farm since Dec. 28 may already have been consumed.

They stressed there had been no reports of infection from eating tainted eggs or poultry products.

Farm workers noticed chickens dying around Dec. 28 and health authorities inspected the facilities two days later.

Avian flu was confirmed in tests Monday conducted by the National Institute of Animal Health in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.

``At this stage, we don't know how they became infected,'' an agriculture ministry in Tokyo told reporters Monday.

The official said there had been no reports of bird flu being transmitted through feed, such as in the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.

The official speculated the virus was probably passed ``through contact among live hens.''

Officials also said they cannot rule out migratory birds as the cause.

In South Korea, 1.85 million chickens and ducks had to be destroyed, dealing a major blow to year-end festivities.

South Korean health authorities detected the virus Dec. 10 and designated a 3-kilometer radius around the epicenter of infection as a danger zone in an effort to control public panic.

Because ducks farmed more than 10 km away were also infected, consumers stayed away from poultry products in droves, even avoiding traditional samgetang chicken soup dishes.

Avian flu generally infects only birds. Officials said there is no documentation of transmission through the consumption of poultry products.

Even so, there have been cases of people becoming infected simply by touching diseased birds.

Bird flu in Hong Kong in 1997 and 1998 resulted in six deaths. Two people also died from the virus in Hong Kong last year after coming into contact with live birds in China.

Japanese farm authorities have been on the alert since the outbreak in South Korea.

They have banned chicken imports from South Korea. An industry organization meantime called on members of the poultry industry to avoid visiting that country for the time being.

The last outbreak in Japan occurred in 1925.

Yamaguchi Prefecture accounts for 1.6 percent of all poultry domestically produced. For this reason, farm ministry officials said they do not expect the outbreak to affect poultry farming nationwide.

The health ministry has instructed poultry farm workers to wash their hands thoroughly after touching chickens and to be extra careful of their hygiene. The ministry is also checking whether any poultry farmers have fevers or other cold-like symptoms.

Prefectural authorities also ordered egg-collection depots and chicken meat facilities closed.(IHT/Asahi: January 13,2004) (01/13)