The Kinmen County Government has killed 275 cows on three ranches in the county’s Jinning Township (金寧) after a strain of foot-and-mouth disease not seen in the nation before was discovered in livestock earlier this month.
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Chang Su-san (張淑賢) said that a DNA scan conducted on May 2 identified the virus as a “type A” foot-and-mouth disease, which had never been detected in Taiwan.
The incident also marked the nation’s first detection of foot-and-mouth disease since May 2012, Chang said.
Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times
Although no further infections have been discovered since, the bureau ordered the culling of all 275 cattle at the facility as a preventive measure against the disease, which is highly contagious, she said, adding that foot-and-mouth disease viruses may remain latent in animals over a period of time.
The cull was conducted in a humane manner via bloodletting after the animals were sedated, she added.
She said the bureau on Friday issued a ban on the transport of raw and processed meat of even-toed hoofed animals from the outlying municipality, including pork, beef and mutton, as well as venison and intestines.
The ordinance is to continue indefinitely until infections are under control, Chang said.
She called on all ranches with even-toed ungulates to strictly limit vehicles from entering and leaving their facilities, adding that all vehicles granted access should be thoroughly disinfected when entering and leaving.
Meanwhile, a county government inspection of all 62 ranches within 1km of the facility did not find any animals exhibiting symptoms that suggested foot-and-mouth disease, she said.
Inspections are to be expanded to facilities within 3km of the Jinning ranch, she added.
On the prospects of the new viral strain hurting Taiwan’s chance of being counted among foot-and-mouth disease-free zones by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE), a distinction the nation sought to apply for this month, she said that the application opportunity remains open, as long as any potential spread in Kinmen is controlled by July.
She said that if a spread in Kinmen cannot be effectively contained, the nation would instead apply for recognition for Taiwan proper as a foot-and-mouth disease-free zone, which would still help exports of processed meat products, she said.
The bureau plans to file the application with the intergovernmental organization in July, she said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai