EXCLUSIVE: Japan’s Aichi to ship pigs early to prevent swine fever

May 30, 2019

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Tokyo--The prefectural government of Aichi, central Japan, plans to have two farms that face a high risk of being contaminated with swine fever ship their pigs ahead of schedule to prevent the spread of the disease, informed sources told Jiji Press Wednesday. br />
The early shipments, based on a request by the central government, will start as soon as June, the sources said. br />
When all pigs are shipped out of the farms, the facilities will be thoroughly cleaned and undergo renovations so that wild boars, seen as the disease's infection source, will not be able to get near pigs raised there. br />
In April, the agriculture ministry urged Aichi and neighboring Gifu prefectures, which experienced a series of swine fever outbreaks in recent months, to encourage farms within 10 kilometers of locations where infected wild boars were found to ship out their pigs earlier than planned. br />
Farms usually ship pigs after raising them for half a year. br />
If the shipment value per pig falls short of the national average of some 39,000 yen due to the early shipments, the central and prefectural governments will pay the difference. br />
Japan confirmed its first swine fever case in 26 years at a farm in Gifu in September 2018. On Saturday, a farm became the 16th facility in the prefecture where a swine fever infection was confirmed. br />
In Gifu, which has had more swine fever cases than Aichi, the prefectural government is putting priority on directly vaccinating pigs as a way to prevent the spread of the disease and is cautious about early shipments. Jiji Press