Japan says blood tests show at least one person became infected with the bird flu virus during an outbreak at a poultry farm earlier this year.
Japan's Health Ministry says four others may also have been infected with the virus, although none of them developed symptoms of the disease. All five are from western Kyoto state, where the bird flu outbreak was reported in February.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Agriculture Ministry says a mild strain of the disease was recently discovered in the city of Gwangju, about 320 kilometers south of Seoul. Some 9,000 ducks are being slaughtered as a precaution. Bird flu has killed 32 people in Thailand and Vietnam this year, and led to the slaughter of millions of birds across Asia.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
