Animal and livestock disease control authorities in Changhua County raised an alert on Thursday against a possible outbreak of African swine fever that has reportedly wreaked havoc on hog farms in northern China recently.
Officials at the Animal Disease Control Center of Changhua County quoted foreign news wire services as reporting that an outbreak of a disease similar to African swine fever has been reported at hog farms in areas of northern China's Heilongjiang Province, bordering Russia.
Russia has reportedly reinforced its controls along the border with China in a bid to keep the hog disease at bay.
CHINESE PIG FARMERS
Changhua officials urged hog farm operators in the county and the rest of the country to strengthen disease prevention measures and to avoid inviting their Chinese counterparts to visit local farms or livestock markets.
They also called for members of Taiwan's public not to purchase pork and pork products from unknown sources.
They said that African swine fever is a highly contagious, generalized disease of pigs caused by a virus known as iridovirus.
The virus resists inactivation and can persist in meat for up to 15 weeks, processed ham for up to 6 months, and up to one month in contaminated livestock pens.
The disease is endemic to most of southern Africa and on the Iberian peninsula of Europe.
Since the 1960s, outbreaks have occurred in France, Italy, Malta, Belgium, Holland, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Outbreaks occur when domestic pigs come in contact with carrier ticks, rather than from direct transmission from other pigs or warthogs.
EXCRETIONS, SECRETIONS
In Europe, direct transmission is more important as the virus is shed in high concentration in the animals' excretions and secretions during the acute phase the disease.
After an incubation period of five to 15 days, the disease may manifest itself in a number of forms. Animals found to be in the peracute phase of the disease usually die soon after discovery, while pigs found to be in the acute phase of the disease can exhibit a variety of symptoms.
In the beginning, infected animals will exhibit high fevers of up to 42oC, followed by one to two days of loss of appetite and recumbency, skin blotching, diarrhea or miscarriages. Mortality is close to 100 percent within seven days, the Changhua animal disease control officials said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS