In an effort to prevent animal-borne viruses from overseas, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has decided to assign quarantine detector dogs to Fukuoka Airport to sniff for target livestock. The dogs are part of stepped-up efforts to combat foot-and-mouth disease in light of the epidemic that swept through Miyazaki in 2010 and recent outbreaks in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. There are currently six quarantine detector dogs at Narita and two other airports in Japan, but the Ministry will add four more dogs at other airports including Fukuoka. In addition to these border control efforts, laws were revised to make early notification of disease outbreaks easier based on recommendations from an independent panel which pointed out the government’s poor initial response to the 2010 outbreak. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun, Apr. 19
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