Top stud bull in Miyazaki slaughtered over foot-and-mouth disease+

MIYAZAKI, Japan, May 22 Kyodo -
One of six stud bulls separated from other cattle after the spread of
foot-and-mouth disease in Miyazaki, southwestern Japan, tested positive for the
highly infectious virus and was slaughtered, the prefectural government said
Saturday.
The government's field task force, comprising 27 teams including veterinarians,
subsequently started vaccinating all cows and pigs within a 10-kilometer radius
of farms hit by the disease. It is the first time that such vaccination has
taken place in Japan. All the roughly 200,000 animals will then be killed as
well.
The development will likely deal a devastating blow to the livestock industry
in the prefecture because the bulls are used to breed the prefecture's prized
Miyazaki beef. It may also affect some other top-range beef producers outside
the prefecture, including Mie Prefecture known for producing the brand
''Matsusaka beef'' from calves from Miyazaki.
The Miyazaki prefectural government slaughtered the bull, named Tadafuji, on
Saturday as it has tested positive twice for the virus under a gene
examination. Tadafuji was the top stud among the six bulls in terms of semen
provided.
As for the remaining five bulls, the local government has decided to take a
wait-and-see approach for about a week as an exceptional measure in an effort
to preserve the brand-name beef after consulting with the Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries Ministry, officials said.
The five bulls normally would be slaughtered as they were raised in the same
cowshed with Tadafuji, but it would mean Miyazaki losing all 55 of its stud
bulls as the other 49 have already been earmarked for slaughter.
Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru told reporters he will ask the state
government to save the 49 after confirming their health conditions.
''The prefecture's desire is to leave the asset. We will negotiate with the
state,'' Higashikokubaru said.
However, Masahiko Yamada, senior vice farm minister, told reporters Saturday,
''I don't think it is a grantable request. I have to discuss it with the (farm)
minister.''
Together accounting for 90 percent of artificial breeding in the prefecture,
the six bulls were evacuated May 13 from a facility close to a town hit by
foot-and-mouth disease.
Samples taken from Tadafuji tested positive on Wednesday and Thursday, however,
bringing the tally of suspected infection cases to 21 cows and pigs at 12
locations in two cities and five towns in Miyazaki and the number of animals
there to be slaughtered to about 133,000.
Yamada said Friday that the Air Self-Defense Force's Nyutabaru Air Base in the
prefecture is one of the possible burial sites for terminated livestock.
==Kyodo
2010-05-22 23:15:49


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