Taiwan is expected to be listed as a food-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free country by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) next year, provided no new cases are reported during this transitional year, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday.
Under OIE guidelines, Taiwan is entitled to apply for the status as an FMD-free country with the OIE before its annual meeting in May 2010 as long as no suspicious cases emerge and no vaccines are given to animals from now until May next year, council officials said.
As an outbreak of the disease would have an impact on a country’s meat exports, the OIE imposes very strict regulations in approving a country to be listed as FMD-free, the officials said.
Once a country has an outbreak of FMD, it can take up to 40 years for it to eventually be listed as an FMD-free country, as was the case with some European countries, officials said.
Since the first FMD case broke out in Taiwan on March 20, 1997, the government has sought to stamp out the disease as quickly as possible, they said.
Since then, all pig farms and slaughterhouses around the country have continuously conducted disinfections to maintain a clean environment and prevent the spread of viruses.
At the same time, the percentage of pigs at nationwide hog farms receiving anti-FMD vaccines has dropped from 50 percent in November to less than 10 percent on average at each farm today, moving toward a zero injection rate to meet OIE requirements, council officials said.
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