Swine fever confirmed in more prefectures in Japan

February 7, 2019

Tokyo--Swine fever cases were confirmed in four more prefectures in Japan on Wednesday, after the first outbreak of the disease in the country in 26 years happened in the central prefecture of Gifu last September.

Pigs at a farm in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, which borders Gifu, have tested positive for swine fever, the agriculture ministry said.

Swine fever outbreaks were also confirmed at farms in Nagano and Shiga prefectures, both of which also border Gifu, and the western prefecture of Osaka as well as Gifu. Pigs at the farms had been shipped from the Toyota farm for breeding, according to the ministry.

The Toyota farm continued pig shipments even after it informed Aichi prefectural authorities on Monday of unusual symptoms in pigs there, which had been seen since late last month, informed sources said.

The Aichi prefectural government stopped short of immediately requesting a voluntary halt in the shipments.

The swine fever virus detected at the Toyota farm is the same type as that found in Gifu, the ministry said.

It is the first time that swine fever has been confirmed at a pig farm in Aichi, where the infectious disease, also known as hog cholera, had already been detected among wild boars.

Work to cull pigs at the affected farms in Gifu, Aichi, Nagano and Shiga started on Wednesday. The Osaka prefectural government also plans to conduct such work soon. A total of 16,000 pigs are seen being slaughtered.

"The situation is very critical," agriculture minister Takamori Yoshikawa said at a related meeting held on Wednesday.

The ministry set up a response headquarters in Gifu on the same day, dispatching officials there to oversee hygiene control at pig farms in Aichi and Gifu.

The ministry also sent an investigation team comprising epidemiology experts to the Toyota farm and other locations to identify the infection route.

Swine fever does not transmit to humans, ministry officials said, adding that consumption of meat from an infected pig or boar will not affect human health. Jiji Press