Are preventative African swine fever culls in Japan’s future?

The Government of Japan is asking the Japanese National Diet to amend the Act on Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control starting this month by adding African swine fever (ASF) to the list of targeted diseases that allows preventative culls of healthy hogs in case of an ASF outbreak, according to the latest USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report.

At this time, the act only permits preventive culls during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, in which case affected livestock owners are compensated by the government, the report says. 
Japan does not have ASF, but the deadly virus continues to spread in other countries in East Asia. 
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The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.