An outbreak of swine fever spreads to five prefectures in Japan

Government health officials reported an outbreak of swine fever in Japan that has spread to five prefectures, including that of Osaka. Up to now, more than 6600 pigs have been slaughtered to try to slow the spread of the virus.

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In a statement, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture said that if China was fighting a deadly strain of African swine fever, the outbreak in Japan was a different strain.

The country has not faced an outbreak of swine fever for 26 years. It is thought that the epidemic began in Gifu prefecture last September. Authorities confirmed that pigs from Aichi Prefecture (bordering Gifu Prefecture) were infected with swine fever and that the disease had now spread to Osaka, Shiga and Nagano.

In total, about 15,000 pigs from infected farms will have to be eliminated to stop the spread of the virus, officials said.

At a recent press conference, the Cabinet Secretary General, Yoshihide Suga, said:

To prevent further spread of the disease, the government will do everything in its power to cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and local authorities to implement quarantine measures quickly and fully. "

The authorities have set up a special working group in Gifu prefecture to deal with the epidemic. The Minister of Agriculture, Takamori Yoshikawa, added: "We are facing an extremely serious situation," at a previous meeting at his ministry.

Importantly, swine fever, which can kill pigs and boars, is not infectious to humans. Suga said: "We are also asking stakeholders to launch an information campaign so that consumers are not worried."

Since the epidemic last September, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has revoked the status of country free from clbadical swine fever.