Pigs Test Negative for Hog Cholera near Tokyo

May 24, 2018

Tokyo- Pigs raised at a farm in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, have tested negative for hog cholera after receiving a through antibody test at a national research institute, the agriculture ministry said Thursday.

The outcome came after some pigs at the farm tested positive for the disease in a simple test conducted by the prefectural government Wednesday.

The farm reported the suspicious deaths of dozens of pigs to the prefectural government on Tuesday.

Hog cholera is a viral disease that kills infected pigs in most cases, but does not infect humans, the ministry said. The meat of infected pigs is safe to eat, it said.

The ministry and the prefectural government said a close follow-up is needed though no outbreak of hog cholera has been confirmed at the farm.

Japan last experienced an outbreak of hog cholera in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto in December 1992. Jiji Press