A paper submitted by a Taiwanese academic to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s scientific journal in July said that the H6N1 strain of avian influenza is continuing to mutate in Taiwan, with dogs now also susceptible to the virus.
National Taiwan University school of veterinary science professor Wang Ching-ho (王金和) wrote that he learned last year that canines have contracted the H6N1 bird flu strain, adding that after further research he found that roughly 2.1 percent of canines in Taiwan have been infected.
In an interview with Chinese-language newspaper the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times), Wang said he came across the first case several years ago when examining a dog’s temperament. He and fellow researchers discovered that the dog was infected with H6N1 after conducting virus isolation procedures.
Wang said it is possible that certain biological similarities between canines and birds make them susceptible to the virus.
The strain of H6N1 in Taiwan has not only infected dogs, but has also become the first known case world-wide to infect humans, Wang said. Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control discovered in May that a 20-year-old female dog in Nantou County had also become infected with the virus.
When asked why he had not informed the government in May about dogs being suspected carriers of the H6N1 viral strain, Wang said it was not a disease mandated by the World Organization for Animal Health that had to be reported.
However, Wang said that he had mentioned the report several years ago during a seminar at National Taiwan University, adding that he had also sent an e-mail to the Council of Agriculture about the issue.
In response, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine director-general Chang Su-san (張淑賢) said that while the case of a dog being infected by H6N1 was the first in Taiwan, the viral strain has a 40-year history here.
The bureau did not need to be informed of the case, as it was a common and low-pathogenic virus often seen on chicken farms, she said, adding the bureau did not place great emphasis on the report.
Unsatisfied with the response, freelance journalist Lee Hui-jen (李惠仁), who spent more than six years investigating avian influenza in Taiwan and directed the documentary A Secret that Can’t be Exposed (不能戳的秘密) said the bureau’s inaction was indirectly escalating the danger the endemic H6N1 strain posed to the nation.
A mild avian influenza outbreak earlier this year included allegedly highly pathogenic bird flu strains, the H5N8 strain and a new H5N2 strain, Lee said, adding that virus strains are starting to mutate in Taiwan, but that the bureau was not paying any attention to it.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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