FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - JAPAN (37): (MIYAZAKI) RESOLVED
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
[1]Date: Sat 28 Aug 2010
The end is only the beginning
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With the deadly foot-and mouth [FMD] epidemic finally declared over 4 months after it started racing through the prefecture's livestock, local farmers have begun setting their sights on a comeback.
However, there are many serious concerns about how the outbreak has affected other local industries, including commerce and travel. Farmers, meanwhile, say the recovery has barely begun.
"It's as if we've just gotten over the 1st mountain...I'm at a loss for words," Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru told reporters at a Friday [27 Aug 2010] press conference at prefectural government headquarters. Head low, he read aloud the proclamation declaring an end to the deadly epidemic.
However, the news was not all good. "[The epidemic] has seriously affected our economy and recovery will be no easy feat," Higashikokubaru continued, emphasizing the many problems still faced by the prefecture.
Some local farmers who are hoping to begin raising animals again also have expressed their concern.
The central government this month [August 2010] will finish issuing subsidies to farming households affected by the cull. While the government will provide assistance to help them get their businesses up and running again, it is not clear whether this "income" is subject to taxes. If so, income tax will take away a considerable amount.
"It'll make things harder for us if it gets taxed," said a farmer who had to slaughter 74 calves even after inoculation.
Rumors, too, continue to inflict damage. According to the Miyazaki Trucking Association, the 38 shipping companies operating in the prefecture "have been turned away when trying to make deliveries in some places outside the prefecture. They've also been told to not make deliveries in trucks with Miyazaki plates."
A recent Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry canvas of retailers nationwide discovered 16 instances of inappropriate signage declaring, "We do not carry Miyazaki beef or pork."
"The real fight is just beginning," says a Takanabecho pig farmer who lost 3000 animals during the epidemic. Last month [July 2010], [he] and another farmer formed the "new pork project" committee, which plans to take action to prevent future outbreaks in the area." We're hoping for a quick recovery, but at the same time we also plan to look 30 years down the road," [he] said.
With the epidemic officially declared over, Tachikawa Takashimaya department store in Tachikawa, Tokyo, began a promotion of Miyazaki beef, with discounts of 20 percent to 30 percent. The store said that in June and July [2010], it received 212 messages of support for the affected farmers of Miyazaki Prefecture.
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[2]
Date: Fri 27 Aug 2010
Source: The Mainichi Daily News, Kyodo news report [edited]
Miyazaki declares end to livestock epidemic
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Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru declared Friday [27 Aug 2010] an end to the FMD epidemic that has severely hit livestock in the southwestern Japanese prefecture, more than 4 months after the 1st case was reported. "We have completed steps to eradicate the virus," Higashikokubaru told a news conference at the prefectural government building. "I declare an end to the FMD in the prefecture."
The outbreak in the prefecture that began in late April 2010 [see item 3 and commentary re real time of outbreak's start.- Mod.AS] forced the prefecture to slaughter some 289 000 pigs and cows, and impose a ban on transfers of livestock.
The latest announcement comes after the Miyazaki government lifted its last ban on the transfers of animals in late July [2010] and made an announcement Thursday [26 Aug 2010] that all 1250 affected farms had completed procedures to detoxify and dispose of animal excreta to ensure the complete eradication of the virus.
The disease also led to temporary closures of public facilities and cancellations of nearly 300 sports and other public events, while the prefectural government asked residents in the affected areas and their vicinities to refrain from going out unless absolutely necessary.
The 1st confirmed case of FMD in the recent outbreak was reported in the town of Tsuno on 20 Apr 2010 [see remark above] before it spread to 11 municipalities, including Miyakonojo City, one of Japan's biggest livestock centers.
The governor declared a state of emergency on 18 May 2010 which was partially lifted on 1 July 2010 after all animals in affected areas were culled.
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[3]
Date: Wed 25 Aug 2010
Source: Japantoday, Kyodo news report [edited]
Infectious route of foot-and-mouth disease unidentified
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An expert panel under the farm ministry could not detect the infectious route of the FMD that hit Miyazaki Prefecture this year [2010], its interim report showed Tuesday [24 Aug 2010].
"It would be quite difficult" to identify the cause of the disease's outbreak, the head of the team, Tomoyuki Tsuda, told a press conference. "We are just guessing here but (the virus) might have traveled with people."
Foot-and-mouth disease spread in Hokkaido and Miyazaki prefectures in 2000 and it was later surmised that straw from China, which was used in the barns for the animals, was responsible.
But the interim report [addressing the 2010 outbreak] noted the panel has not identified any specific routes of the virus entry from abroad [see commentary below].
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[According to earlier reports on the findings of the epidemiological research team led by Tomoyuki Tsuda, the 1st FMD infection took place at a water buffalo farm in Tsunocho in the Miyazaki prefecture as early as mid-March 2010. This case was not diagnosed at that time; at least 10 additional farms had been infected with FMD before the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry detected (and reported) the 1st case on 20 Apr 2010.
The research team also found that FMD possibly spread while livestock farmers were unaware of the symptoms of the disease, and that employees of several farms in Tsunocho and Kawaminamicho in the prefecture, where animals were infected with the disease, had visited each other, while a feedstuff delivery service stopped by many farms in different municipalities in the area. Kawaminamicho neighbors Tsunocho, where the 1st infection case was detected. The epidemiological research team was said to believe effective initial response measures against the disease were stymied as a result of the delayed detection of the real 1st case (see ProMED-mail archives 20100726.2498 and 20100629.2160).
A somewhat similar scenario was seen during the 1st phases of the major FMD outbreak in the UK, 2001, when the virus spread several weeks before being noticed and diagnosed. Similarly, the "smoking gun" was never detected. Luckily for Japan, their current outbreak remained restricted to Miyazaki, while in the UK it spread widely by uncontrolled movements of subclinically/mildly infected sheep.
For the sake of lessons to be learned, it will be helpful to obtain the full report of the Japanese investigation Team. - Mod.AS]
[see also:
Foot & mouth disease - Japan (35): (MZ) update 20100726.2498
Foot & mouth disease - Japan (29): (MZ) update, RFI 20100629.2160]...................................arn/mj/mpp
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