The presence of avian influenza subtypes H5N2 and H5N8 has been confirmed at 14 more facilities, raising the tally of affected sites to 20 and putting the total number of poultry to be affected at about 271,818, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
Poultry farms that show high mortality rates among fowl are to begin culls as soon as their samples test positive for the H5 subtype, to more effectively contain the spread of the disease, it added.
According to statistics released by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, five more facilities — two goose farms in Yunlin and Pingtung counties, and three farms in Chiayi County — were hit by the H5N8 strain.
Photo: Lin I-chang, Taipei Times
Five goose farms — two in Yunlin, two in Chiayi and one in Pingtung — and four breeding goose farms in Yunlin, were hit by the H5N2 subtype.
The number of birds exterminated throughout the nation is to be released today, council Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) said.
Meanwhile, two goose farms in Greater Taoyuan and one in Greater Kaohsiung reported suspected virus-induced deaths, raising the total number of regions affected by the disease to seven: Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Chiayi counties, as well as Greater Tainan, while the total of potentially infected facilities currently stands at 45.
A chicken farm in Greater Tainan has reported suspected virus-induced poultry deaths, but it is yet unclear whether the deaths were linked to the new H5N2 and H5N8 viruses, Chen said.
Out of concern that the strains, which as of yesterday had affected only waterfowl, would also target chickens, Chen said that mixed poultry farming is strictly prohibited, adding that farmers who employ the practice risk destroying their careers under the current circumstances.
Meanwhile, to increase efficiency at halting the spread of the disease, the council has reached a consensus with local animal health inspection agencies.
The agreement stipulates that if samples taken from farms with high mortality rates test positive for H5 subtypes, poultry at the sites must be culled immediately. The threshold was set at fatality rates of 20 percent or above within 48 hours.
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Chang Su-san (張淑賢) said that the World Organization of Animal Health had publicized the nation’s H5N8 outbreak on its Web site, but rejected the bureau’s request to announce the one involving H5N2, possibly not realizing that the strain currently sweeping Taiwan has mutated into a different subtype.
She said that the bureau had contacted the organization and that the information on H5N2 should be updated shortly.
Vice Premiere Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday urged consumers not to panic, saying that eggs harvested at chicken farms are safe for consumption and that all poultry are to undergo thorough inspection before they are allowed to be butchered and sold.
The military is to assist with the council’s disinfection efforts in cases of large operations, he said.
He added that the Executive Yuan has asked the council to employ “deployment in advance” in response to the recent outbreaks.
“Disease prevention is tantamount to fighting a war,” said Chang, who went to the meeting of the bureau’s response team yesterday.
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