A farm in Chiayi yesterday became the nation’s latest poultry farm to test positive for the highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza virus strain.
Comprehensive test results should be available today, the Chiayi County Department of Agriculture said, adding that county inspectors found contaminated chickens at an unlicensed butcher’s shop in a traditional market.
The news came after a turkey farm in Tainan was on Sunday confirmed to have H5N6-infected birds, following the first confirmed H5N6 infection in the nation last week at a poultry farm in Hualien County and a case in Yilan County on Saturday.
Photo: CNA
Later yesterday, another poultry farm in Hualien was also declared infected.
A case of H5N2 contamination was confirmed at a chicken farm in the county’s Taisi Township (台西), Yulin County Animal and Plant Disease Control Center Director Liao Pei-chih (廖培志) said separately yesterday.
The confirmation resulted in the culling of 3,900 chickens, bringing the total number of birds culled in the county to more than 130,000 so far this year, he said, adding that the authorities then disinfected nearby areas to prevent the spread of the virus.
Photo: CNA
The Cabinet on Sunday established a Central Epidemic Response Center.
The center held its first meeting yesterday, during which Premier Lin Chuan (林全) called on local governments to work with the central government to make preparations and adopt measures to contain the disease.
He added that if the outbreak continues, the Cabinet would take further measures, such as imposing border or movement controls.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) yesterday urged people to avoid visiting live poultry markets or poultry farms and not to eat raw eggs to avoid H5N6 infections.
However, Chuang said humans can only become infected with the virus if a person is exposed to an environment where the virus is active, so only poultry farmers and personnel culling the infected animals are now at risk.
The centers have been working closely with the Council of Agriculture and local health bureaus since Feb. 5 to ensure that personnel who are responsible for culling and disposal of carcasses wear protective clothing and N95 surgical masks, he said.
Photo: CNA
All personnel connected with the recent cases have been monitored by the centers for possible infection, Chuang said, adding that aside from checking on such personnel every day, the centers have also instructed medical facilities to ask patients with flu-like symptoms whether they had been near poultry carcasses.
The centers have prepared 1.97 million N95 surgical masks, 510,000 sets of protective clothing and about 45 million other types of surgical masks to serve as disease prevention equipment, Chuang said.
The Taipei Department of Environmental Protection yesterday warned the public not to feed wild birds, adding that the maximum fine for feeding wild birds is NT$6,000.
The department would be monitoring areas in the city such as the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall complex and Daan Forest Park, which usually attract flocks of wild birds, department official Yang Wei-hsiu (楊維修) said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday called a news conference, demanding that the central government make the “maximum effort” to prevent a national outbreak.
The situation is “a matter of national security,” KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) said, urging the government to remain on guard, as farmers might conceal incidents of contamination at their facilities.
KMT Legislator Arthur Chen (陳宜民) called on Taiwanese travelers and businesspeople to remain vigilant, as cases of H5N6 infection in humans have been reported in China.
Additional reporting by Huang Shu-li and CNA
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS