It was believed that the outbreak of food and mouth disease in Miyazaki Prefecture would tail off thanks to the government's containment operation. But things haven't gone as expected.
Last week, cattle in Miyakonojo, about 50 km away from the hardest-hit town of Kawaminami, were suspected to be infected with the disease. Miyakonojo is one of the nation's largest beef and pork production centers.
Outbreaks of the disease were also suspected in the cities of Hyuga, Miyazaki and Saito, which are outside the areas where vaccinations were carried out. The government must urgently take necessary measures to contain the threat. In Miyakonojo, infections appear to be limited to cattle. But if the disease spreads to pigs it would pose a much greater threat because pigs discharge 1,000 times more of the virus that causes foot and mouth disease than cattle. Miyakonojo is adjacent to Kagoshima Prefecture, which is Japan's top livestock center. As of February 2009, the prefecture had 345,900 cattle and 1.34 million pigs.