The Environment Ministry began testing wild swans, geese and ducks against bird flu virus Thursday in Akita, Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures on the heels of the recent finding of the deadly H5N1 strain of virus in swans in Akita, ministry officials said. Jointly with the governments of the three prefectures, the ministry will collect the feces of 20 to 100 sets of birds at inspection spots around lakes and rivers over the next several days and check if they are contaminated with any avian influenza, the officials said. Meanwhile, Akita and Aomori prefectures continued their own inspections on local chicken farms to see if they have taken necessary measures to prevent wild birds from entering their poultry houses and instructed the farmers about thorough sterilization methods as well as the use of bird nets and other measures against wild birds.