TOKYO — Japan’s hog cholera epidemic spread further with a sixth case identified Tuesday in the central part of the country, leading to the first dispatch of Ground Self-Defense Force troops and the launch of a crisis control unit by the central government.
After tests confirmed the latest case of the contagious disease that has a high fatality rate at a pig farm in Seki, Gifu Prefecture, the local government began culling 7,547 pigs there. About 1,600 GSDF troops dispatched at the request of Gifu Gov. Hajime Furuta will bury the culled pigs.
Hog cholera was detected at a farm in the city of Gifu in September for the first time since 1992 and has been found in wild boars in both Gifu and neighboring Aichi prefectures. It does not affect humans even if an infected animal is consumed.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the central and local governments “have been making all-out efforts to prevent the infections from spreading.”
Three farms with a total of 1,800 pigs located within 10 kilometers of the affected farm in Seki were banned from shipping their hogs. Meat processing facilities in the city also halted operations.
At the farm hit by the latest outbreak, Gifu government officials in white protective gear were seen digging holes for the burying of carcasses and disinfecting themselves around pig pens.
A pig showing signs of infection was found in a test prior to shipment Sunday at the farm and the animal and another one tested positive on Tuesday, according to the Gifu government.
In Gifu, which kept around 106,000 pigs at 40 farms and research institutions as of Feb. 1 this year, a series of hog cholera infections have been reported including at public facilities.
“We don’t know what to do before the cause of the outbreak is specified,” a member of a local pig farmers’ association said.
The Gifu prefectural assembly has adopted a statement calling on the central government to study vaccinating hogs against the disease. But the farm ministry remains reluctant because it would affect the country’s pork exports.
The association member urged the ministry to change its stance, saying local pig farmers are “strongly demanding” vaccination.
As wild boars are suspected to be the source of infection, Masuo Sueyoshi, head of the University of Miyazaki’s Division of Prevention and Control for Animal Diseases, said control of such animals should be tightened.
“In addition to trapping, steps should be taken such as placing food containing vaccines along trails” frequented by wild boars, he said.
Prior to the latest outbreak, Japan had only seen hog cholera in 1992 and declared the virus eradicated in 2007.
–Kyodo
Associated Press
For more articles concerning international issues, click here.