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TOKYO : Japan's new Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Saturday labeled the country's first outbreak of foot-and-mouth in a decade a "national crisis", as he visited farms in the southwest hit by the disease.
"I want to do everything in my power to stop spreading the infection and terminate it," Kan told affected livestock farmers in Miyazaki prefecture, 850km (520 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
Kan, who took office on Tuesday, has appointed Masahiko Yamada as farm minister to replace Hirotaka Akamatsu, who came under fire over a slow response to the infection.
The highly contagious virus has brought to a halt beef and pork exports from the affected area and crippled Miyazaki's premium beef industry.
The outbreak, Japan's first since 2000, was detected in late April and spread quickly, and local authorities have started slaughtering more than 200,000 animals in the hard-hit prefecture.
"I regard the foot-and-mouth disease as a national crisis," Kan told Miyazaki Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru, who asked the central government to boost support.
Foot-and-mouth affects cloven-hoofed animals, also including sheep, goats and deer. It is rarely transmitted to humans but spreads easily between animals, causing them pain and often killing their young. - AFP/jy
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