COA kills chickens to prevent spread of bird flu disease

Some 35,000 chickens on a farm in Hsinkang Township, Chiayi County were due to be slaughtered yesterday in an effort to contain the transmission of bird flu, the Council of Agriculture said.

"We're prepared to slaughter all the chickens on the farm at 5pm tonight," council Deputy Minister Hu Fu-hsiung (胡富雄) announced yesterday morning.

As of press time, council officals had not destroyed all of the chickens.

The council said that as a precautionary measure five additional chicken farms within a 1km radius of the affected farm had undergone thorough inspection and that all samples had returned negative results to the virus tests.

The council stressed that the virus strain had been found during standard inspection procedures on Jan 8. Lab results on Jan. 15 later confirmed that chickens on the Chiayi farm had indeed contracted the H5N2 virus strain.

The council's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said yesterday that the H5N2 virus strain was a weak subtype of avian flu and was not known to be transmittable to people.

The more pathogenic H5N1 virus strain has caused the deaths of at five people in Vietnam.

Another 20,000 chickens were slaughtered last Thursday on an egg farm in Fangyuan township (芳苑鄉), Changhua County where the H5N2 virus had also been discovered.

"Even though the chickens from both farms were infected with the same virus strain, the chickens on the Chaiyi farm probably were not infected by the Changhua farm chickens. Because one was a chicken farm and the other an egg farm, it is unlikely that the groups of chickens ever had any contact," said the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director Yeh-ing (葉瑩).

According to the bureau, it is too early to rule out the possibility that the virus' is transmitted by water fowl.

Center for Disease Control Director General Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁) also stated yesterday that flu vaccinations would be provided for chicken and duck farm employees in central and southern Taiwan. According to the agricultural council and the disease control center, of the 5,000 chicken and duck farm employees in the country, roughly 4,700 have already been vaccinated.

Yan Jer-jea (顏哲傑), director of the center's Division of Immunization, said that the department would be making available the roughly 10,000 flu vaccine left in Taiwan.

Su said that chicken handlers were under observation and are to report any sign of fever.

In addition, the center clarified that the four Changhua County officials who had reported flu symptoms after having aided in the slaughter of chickens had tested negative for the H5N2 virus strain.