General review on hog cholera (Classical swine fever), African swine fever, and Salmonella enterica serovar choleraesuis infection

Classical swine fever (CSF, hog cholera) has reemerged in Japan after 26 years and affected domestic pigs and wild boars. CSF was reported in Gifu prefecture on September 2018. Approximately 90,000 breeding domestic pigs were sacrificed by farmers of Gifu and Aichi prefectures to prevent expansion of CSF outbreak. In mid September 2019, CSF outbreaks have occurred in 8 prefectures in central Japan. African swine fever (ASF) is another viral infectious disease that affects domestic pigs and wild boars, although the etiologic agent is different from that of CSF. Both CSF and ASF affect pig farmers because of their intense infectivity to domesticated pigs. Fortunately, the causative agents are not pathogenic to human. However, an enteric bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Choleraesuis is pathogenic to pigs and humans. As Salmonella Choleraesuis causes food poisoning in humans, the infection is monitored by “Food Sanitation Law” in Japan. CSF, ASF, and Salmonella enterica serovar Choleraesuis salmonellosis are translated in Japanese as “ton-korera,” “afurika ton-korera,” and “buta-korera,” respectively, wherein “ton” and “buta” both mean pig or hog. Therefore the above Japanese words mean hog cholera.