TOKYO: Japan has confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a poultry farm in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima, local media reported.

The Kagoshima prefectural government said that work to cull some 23,000 egg-laying chickens at the chicken farm in the city of Izumi started on Sunday morning, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a Jiji Press report.

A local livestock hygiene centre on Saturday morning received a report of an increase in dead chickens from the farm, the report said.

Three of 13 dead chickens showed positive results after a simple virus test. Infection was confirmed on Sunday in a detailed genetic examination, according to the prefectural government.

This marks the fourth bird flu outbreak confirmed at a poultry farm in Japan this season, the report said.