Test results conducted on a pig carcass found in outlying Kinmen County earlier this week were positive for African swine fever, the Council of Agriculture confirmed yesterday.
The dead hog was found on Monday on a beach in Kinmen County’s Jinsha Township (金沙) by Coast Guard Administration personnel just kilometers away from China’s southeastern coast, raising concerns that the outbreak of the swine disease in China could spread to Taiwan.
Samples collected from the dead animal were sent to the council’s Animal Health Research Institute for testing, which indicated that the pig was infected with the disease, institute head Chiu Chui-chang (邱垂章) said yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It was not known whether the dead hog floated to Kinmen from China or if it originated from a local farm, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine senior official Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said.
Authorities have begun carrying out inspections at Kinmen’s hog farms for a possible African swine fever infection, Hsu said.
Kinmen has 68 pig farms, with about 11,000 hogs.
None of the 190 pigs at a farm close to where the dead hog was found have shown any signs of infection, the Kinmen County Government said.
As a precaution, from today, imports of pork from Kinmen to Taiwan proper would be suspended for two weeks, council Acting Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said.
Should any of the pigs exhibit symptoms of the disease, such as a loss of appetite or lethargy, authorities would carry out tests, Hsu said.
In the event of a positive result, the hogs would be culled, followed by the cleaning and disinfection of the premises to prevent the disease from spreading, he said.
Since the first confirmed case of the swine disease was reported in China’s Liaoning Province in August last year, Taiwan has been on high alert, worried that the spread of the extremely deadly virus could devastate the nation’s NT$80 billion (US$2.59 billion) pig farming industry.
To prevent the disease from reaching Taiwan, the government has slapped heavy fines on travelers who bring in pork products from areas affected by the disease, with first-time offenders liable to be fined NT$200,000 and repeat offenders up to NT$1 million.
In light of the positive test results, Premier William Lai (賴清德) is to convene an interministerial meeting today to discuss the matter, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fan
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile applications. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, also unveiled its A12 chip at its annual technology symposium in Santa Clara, California. The A12 chip, which features TSMC’s super-power-rail technology to provide backside power delivery for AI and HPC applications, is also to enter volume production in 2029, a year after the scheduled release of the A14 chip. The technology moves
RSS