March 19, 2004

Japan Hit By Hog Cholera In Six Pigs

Six pigs in southwestern Japan have tested positive for hog cholera, an official said Thursday. If confirmed, the outbreak would be Japan's first in 14 years.
 
Preliminary tests on organs from the pigs at a slaughterhouse in Kagoshima prefecture indicated the animals had the infectious disease, Agriculture Ministry spokesman Tatsumi Okura said.
 
Before the tissue and meat is disposed of, a state-run research institute near Tokyo would perform further tests to confirm the finding, he said.
 
Authorities ordered all swine farms within 3 kilometers of Kanoya city where the outbreak occurred not to move their animals, Okura said.
 
The country's last outbreak of hog cholera was in 1992, when five infected pigs were discovered.
 
Farm-raised pigs or wild boars can carry the virus, which is transmitted through wastes or saliva and can kill an animal in a matter of weeks. There have been no cases of human infections in Japan.