On 10, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported a swine fever outbreak at a pig farm in Gunma Prefecture, in the northwestern part of the Kanto region.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the farm where the outbreak occurred was raising approximately 1900 pigs. Another farm epidemiologically linked to it was raising approximately 900 pigs.
A news release issued by the Gunma Prefectural Government on 10 said that on 9, the prefecture’s agricultural affairs department received a report from the farm about suspected swine fever symptoms, including diarrhea among piglets. Staff then conducted an on-site inspection of the farm. Genetic testing results released on 10 by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization showed that pigs at the farm were infected with swine fever.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that the relevant authorities would take necessary disease-control measures, including slaughtering, burning and burying pigs raised on farms where swine fever had occurred. They would also ensure the farms were disinfected, prevent wild animals from entering the farms, and dispatch an epidemiological investigation team to conduct an on-site investigation into how the swine fever had spread.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that swine fever is a disease affecting domestic pigs and wild boars and cannot be transmitted to humans. Farms should vaccinate the pigs they raise at appropriate times.
According to a further notice from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on 11, a wild boar carcass found on 9 in Kamogawa City, Chiba Prefecture, which borders Tokyo, was confirmed by testing to be infected with swine fever.