Pigs on farms in Taitung County have been cleared of A(H1N1) influenza, prompting a lifting of the ban on the sale of pigs to wholesale markets, the government said yesterday.
Hsu Tien-lai (許天來), director-general of the Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said no A(H1N1) cases were found in the second and third rounds of tests that the bureau conducted on a formerly infected farm in Kuanshan Township (關山) and seven others within a 3km radius.
The A(H1N1) virus was discovered in hundreds of hogs on the Kuanshan Township farm on Nov. 5, in what was said to be a possible jump of the new flu strain from humans to pigs.
However, Hsu said it was not clear how the pigs on the farm contracted the virus.
The farm is an enclosed facility and has taken measures to keep out birds, he said, adding that the possibility of infection from other farm animals or people in passing vehicles was reasonably low.
Hsu said that on Monday samples from all the farms in question tested negative for the virus strain, which indicates that the outbreak has been contained.
Based on the test results, the bureau on Monday removed the ban on the sale of the farms’ pigs to wholesale markets.
It also discontinued its monitoring of the area.
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