Japan confirms another outbreak of H5N1 bird flu

(Adds comment by agriculture minister, last paragraph)

TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Japan has confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in the western prefecture of Okayama, the third to be confirmed in the country since the beginning of the year, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ministry also said a separate outbreak was suspected after 23 birds died at a poultry farm in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki, site of two earlier H5N1 flare-ups and Japan's biggest poultry-producing region.

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 164 people worldwide since 2003, most of them in Asia, and over 200 million birds have died from it or have been killed to prevent its spread.

There have been no reported cases of human infection from the virus in Japan.

Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka told reporters that his ministry would support local authorities if they were to call for help from troops to deal with bird flu-related situations.