Prime Minister Naoto Kan held the 10th meeting of the Headquarters against Foot-and-Mouth Disease at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the start of the meeting, the Prime Minister delivered an address, saying, "We have been implementing comprehensive measures to prevent the transmission of the disease through a national initiative, obtaining cooperation from people throughout the nation.
So far, I am aware that the slaughtering of infected and suspect animals was completed on June 24, and of vaccinated animals on June 30. I also heard that the cleanup of farms was completed yesterday.
I would like to extend heartfelt appreciation to the veterinarians, members of the Self-Defense Force (SDF), and police officers, who came to our aid from elsewhere in Japan to engage in various works including slaughtering and burial operations, for enduring enormous hardship in bad weather conditions.
However, even where the cleanup of farms is complete, we are not yet at a stage where we can feel safe, since farms within the region are still producing an enormous amount of waste containing the virus, which is being treated by a fermentation process. We must not relax our vigilance and must ensure a flawless response including thorough disinfection work. From this perspective, we will be maintaining a communication system necessary for implementing slaughtering and other responses within 24 hours after an outbreak, although we will be revising the local postures, including the SDF, in turn following the completion of the works. The Cabinet will continue mobilizing its full powers to tackle this issue, which presents a grave challenge for risk management."