Authorities have already culled 25,000 birds at the infected farm in Ibaraki prefecture (state) northeast of Tokyo after officials discovered the H5N2 strain of bird flu, considered a less dangerous strain than the H5N1 version that has ravaged Asia.
On Wednesday, a ministry panel said chickens at the five farms closest to the infected farm in Mitsukaido City northeast of Tokyo had developed antibodies to the virus but did not have the disease. Still, the panel said the 94,000 birds at those ranches would be culled as a precaution.
Meanwhile, the ministry said it may lift a ban on shipping birds and eggs from 11 other farms within a 5-kilometer (3-mile) radius of the infected farm after fowl there tested negative for bird flu.
Examinations of workers at farms in the affected area showed no signs of human infection, officials said.
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