The Council of Agriculture (COA) said it has initiated a migratory bird monitoring program to prevent the spread of the swine flu virus through birds and poultry, two weeks after the virus was found in turkeys on two farms in Chile.
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director Huang Kuo-ching (黃國青) said the serological surveillance would last until April, when the migratory season for birds ends.
The bureau will take serum samples from at least 2,000 migratory birds, he said.
Although no pigs or birds in Taiwan have been found to be infected with the swine flu virus, the COA is taking precautionary measures against the possible spread of the virus by migratory birds.
Huang said that many of the black-faced spoonbills that fly to the wetlands in the south for the winter had already arrived and his bureau had started collecting bird excretions for examination and it was also taking serum samples from poultry farms.
If the swine flu virus is found, the bureau would expand the surveillance program to all poultry and pig farms within a radius of 3km of where the infection is discovered, he said.
A report by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said the swine flu virus found in turkeys in Chile corresponds to the same virus strain that has been circulating among humans in Chile this winter.
The Chilean turkey cases have caused global concern of possible cross-infection of humans, animals and birds, which could exacerbate the epidemic, Huang said.
In related news, a 49-year-old man from Jhonghe City (中和), Taipei County, died of swine flu yesterday, bringing the nation’s death toll to seven.
A press release issued by the Taipei County Government’s Department of Health said follow-up observation on the man’s three family members showed they were not infected with the virus.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) told a press conference yesterday that 16 new cases of severe swine flu had been reported, bringing to 128 the total number of hospitalized cases countrywide.
The swine flu epidemic has escalated, driving up sales of face masks around the country, but has not yet reached its peak, Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) and CDC Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
RSS