Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases
Japan PM says foot-and-mouth disease 'national crisis'
Posted: 12 June 2010 1646 hrs
Japanese officers spray antiseptic at a farm in Miyazaki prefecture.
Japan's premium beef is threatened by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth
disease which has spread to many farms
TOKYO : Japan's new Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Saturday labeled the
country's first outbreak of foot-and-mouth in a decade a "national
crisis", as he visited farms in the southwest hit by the disease.
"I want to do everything in my power to stop spreading the infection
and terminate it," Kan told affected livestock farmers in Miyazaki
prefecture, 850km (520 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
Kan, who took office on Tuesday, has appointed Masahiko Yamada as farm
minister to replace Hirotaka Akamatsu, who came under fire over a slow
response to the infection.
The highly contagious virus has brought to a halt beef and pork exports
from the affected area and crippled Miyazaki's premium beef industry.
The outbreak, Japan's first since 2000, was detected in late April and
spread quickly, and local authorities have started slaughtering more
than 200,000 animals in the hard-hit prefecture.
"I regard the foot-and-mouth disease as a national crisis," Kan told
Miyazaki Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru, who asked the central
government to boost support.
Foot-and-mouth affects cloven-hoofed animals, also including sheep,
goats and deer. It is rarely transmitted to humans but spreads easily
between animals, causing them pain and often killing their young. -
AFP/jy