MIYAZAKI (Kyodo) Public facilities in Miyazaki Prefecture resumed normal services Tuesday after the state of emergency was lifted over the foot-and-month outbreak with the removal of the last remaining ban on animal transfers.
In the city of Miyazaki, schoolchildren visited the Miyazaki Science Center, which was reopened to the public for the first time since June 11, for their summer studies, while roughly 100 people lined up for the reopening of the prefectural library, which had been closed for about six weeks.
Still, officials face an uphill battle as they try to revive the severely damaged livestock industry and the rest of the regional economy, including tourism.
The temporary closures of the facilities as well as cancellations of nearly 300 sports and other public events came after Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru declared the state of emergency May 18, nearly a month after the first confirmed case of the highly contagious animal disease was reported in the prefecture.
The spread of the disease also prompted the prefecture to ask residents in the affected and surrounding areas to refrain from going out unless absolutely necessary. Such restrictions, along with bans on animal transfers, were lifted in stages as the epidemic died down.
About 289,000 pigs and cows were slaughtered to contain the disease.
The last suspected case was reported July 4 at a farm in the city of Miyazaki.
