#14,635
Forty-eight hours after we learned of the first two outbreaks of Classical Swine Fever (CSF) on the island of Okinawa (see here) - the first reported there in 33 years and representing a jump of 1300 km from Japan's primary epicenter of cases - Japan's Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) has announced yet another, much larger, farm has been affected.
This marks the 54th farm outbreak of CSF since the dreaded pig disease was first seen in Gifu, Japan in September of 2018 after a 26 year absence. Until this week, all farm outbreaks and more than 1200 infected wild boar have been detected across 12 central Japan Prefectures (see map below)While often clinically indistinguishable from African Swine Fever (ASF), Classical Swine Fever is caused by a different virus (genus Pestivirus, family Flaviviridae). Both diseases are highly contagious, and can be economically devastating for pork producers, but neither disease is considered zoonotic threat.
Today's (translated) reported follows:
Confirmation of suspected affected animals of CSF in Okinawa Prefecture (Domestic 54th Example)
January 10, 2020
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Today, suspected CSF suspected affected animals were confirmed on a farm in Okinawa City, Okinawa Prefecture, which was in the restricted area of the 52nd and 53rd in Japan.
We will ensure all protection against this disease.
Please refrain from reporting on the site because of the risk of spreading the disease.
1. Overview of the farm where it occurred
Location: Okinawa City, Okinawa Prefecture
Status of animal care: 2,809
2. Background
(1) Okinawa Prefecture conducted an on-site inspection by a prefectural animal health inspector on January 8th (Wednesday) on a farm in the restricted area of the 52nd and 53rd in Japan.
(2) On the same day, a precision inspection was conducted by the Livestock Health Center and today (Friday, January 10) it was found to be a suspected CSF-infected animal.
While expectations were initially fairly high that this returning agricultural disease would be contained, 3 months after Gifu was affected, a farm in neighboring Aichi Prefecture was hit. Another 7 months (July 2018) would pass before we'd see a farm in a 3rd Prefecture (Mie) infected.
Since then, the dominoes have been falling at a rapid rate, often first with the detection of the virus in local wild boar, followed then by farm outbreaks.A reminder that, despite heightened awareness, increased biosecurity, and even the availability of a vaccine - agricultural diseases like CSF - once they get a foothold, can be incredibly difficult to eradicate.