June 4, 2010
Livestock transfer bans lifted for parts of Miyazaki
The Miyazaki prefectural government said Thursday (June 3) a safety study has found no signs of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) among animals in Ebino.
The government has lifted transfer bans on livestock in the city and vicinity, though the spread of the contagious disease remains unlikely to stop in other parts of the south western prefecture.
The bans on moving livestock within a 10 km radius from the four disease-hit farms and on taking animals out of a 20 km radius, which cover some areas in neighbouring Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures, was lifted midnight Thursday (June 3), officials said.
In the inland city, no animal has tested positive for the disease since the last suspected infection case was confirmed May 13, and the central and prefectural governments reached the conclusion at the end of an 11 day safety study that began on May 24, they said.
Since the disease broke out in Ebino on April 28, more than 600 cows and pigs have been slaughtered.
In the safety study, about 1,300 cows at all the roughly 150 farms located within a three km radius of the farms of origin have been confirmed uninfected with the disease through antibody testing of their blood samples. Pigs have also been tested.
Since Monday, some 97,000 cows and pigs at about 400 farms in a three to 10 km radius have had their conditions visually checked by veterinarians.
The prefectural government put the data together and consulted with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishers before deciding on lifting the bans, the officials said.
