The Great East Japan Earthquake (2011): using the One Health approach to minimise the impact on the livestock industry and human health

Supplying safe livestock products made from healthy animals is the primary purpose of the agriculture industry, making it essential to include agriculture in the One Health approach to disaster preparedness and response. After the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011, and the following crisis at the Fukushima Nuclear Complex, producing and supplying safe livestock products became a challenging issue, because the area was highly polluted with radiation leaks from the nuclear plants. To produce livestock products that satisfied the safety standards for radioactive materials in food for humans, it was necessary to create feeding management guidelines and set standard limits for radioactive materials in animal feeds. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) established provisional maximum limits on radioactive caesium in feeds in order to secure safe food for the nation. Furthermore, there were other issues that Japan's livestock industry had to tackle. The authors outline key measures taken by the Livestock Industry Department of the MAFF to reconstruct the livestock industry, which was a small but important part of the whole reconstruction plan. They also discuss the measures implemented to protect companion animals.