July 22, 2004

Thirteen Pigs In Japan Test Positive For Hog Cholera

Thirteen pigs on a farm in southwestern Japan have tested positive for hog cholera - the second suspected outbreak in four months in the region, an official said Wednesday.

The operator of the farm in Kanoya city requested the tests after the nine pigs and four piglets became feverish and started eating less, Kagoshima prefectural, or state, spokesman Tamotsu Kuramae said. Fever, loss of appetite and skin sores are symptoms of the disease.

Preliminary tests Monday showed all had antibodies for the virus, and dissections revealed that some of the animals had internal bleeding, Kuramae said. Tissue samples were sent to a state-run research institute north of Tokyo for more precise tests, he said.

A previous suspected outbreak of hog cholera in March prompted Kagoshima authorities to incinerate 1,140 pigs from another farm in Kanoya, 985 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. Authorities later discovered that none of the pigs had been infected, and that several animals had antibodies for the virus because a farmer had illegally injected an unauthorized vaccine.

Before the suspected infections in March, Japan's last hog cholera outbreak was in 1992.

In the latest case, an additional 28 pigs were being tested Tuesday for possible infections, and authorities were considering imposing a quarantine, Kuramae said.

The farm has 500 pigs, and there are about 1 million pigs on nearby farms in the area, he said.

Farm-raised pigs or wild boars can carry the virus, which is transmitted through waste or saliva. It can kill an animal in a matter of weeks. No cases of human infection have been reported in Japan.