Taiwan remains unaffected by the spread of the bird flu that has stricken many other Asian countries, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
Since reports from Thailand on Monday of the world's first probable case of person-to-person transmission of bird flu, the Animals and Plants Inspection and Quarantine Bureau has increased its efforts to prevent the arrival of bird flu here.
Officials said yesterday that it was unnecessary for people to panic over the news from Thailand.
"Taiwan remains clear of that deadly virus, H5N1," bureau Deputy Director General Yeh Ying (
After some farms were affected by the less pathogenic H5N2 strain earlier this year, the council urged poultry farmers to monitor their birds more closely. No cases have been reported since March.
On Monday, in response to recent controversies over vaccination against bird flu, experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health reiterated that the slaughter of infected animals is the best way to control and eradicate the disease.
Yeh, however, said vaccination has not been used here.
"We have used slaughter as an effective method to eradicate the less bird flu pathogenic virus here," Yeh said.
She said that poultry from Tai-wan is no longer banned by Japan and some other countries.
According to the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Japan agreed to lift the ban on Taiwanese poultry and poultry-related products on Aug. 30.
Agricultural officials said that Taiwan should take advantage of the opportunity to boost exports of chicken to Japan since many other Asian countries are regarded as contaminated areas.
"Because of sound regulations and the cooperation from the public, Taiwan has done quite a good job of preventing the appearance of the deadly bird flu," Yeh said.
Bureau officials said that people should be alert when traveling to areas where bird flu has appeared, such as Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, China and Indonesia.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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