Institute of Animal Health

At the Institute of Animal Health, more than 50 staff members, mostly veterinarians, strive to prevent infectious diseases of livestock, the greatest enemy of livestock farmers. About 40% of these staff members guide and instruct farmers in the field, about 30% carry out health and sanitation testing of livestock, and the remaining 30% or so engage in research and development. Staff members in charge of farming guidance are assigned to five sites across Japan to provide instruction and guidance to farmers and visit livestock farms every day to discuss topics including sanitation management and breeding management and help farmers raise healthy livestock. The testing and R&D sections support these activities. The testing section screens for pathogens that may harm livestock and those that may lead to food poisoning in humans, testing as many as 200,000 specimens per year. The results of this testing are used in routine feedback to farms provided by the staff members tasked with instruction and guidance to farmers. On the other hand, the R&D section carries out development in areas including vaccines to prevent diseases, functional feeds to improve livestock immune systems, and new testing methods, all from a long-term perspective. The Institute of Animal Health will continue working hand in hand with its partners in the JA Group, aiming for the continued success of Japan’s livestock farmers.

Research, development and guidance

• Product development relating to compound feeds, superior feeder livestock, and production materials and machinery
• Guidance on breeding management
• Development and promotion of technology for improving productivity

Testing

Collection of pig blood samples