The Council of Agriculture has lifted a ban on beef and pork products from Kinmen County — 10 months after a new type of foot-and-mouth disease outbreak was identified in the county.
Beef and pork from Kinmen were prohibited from being shipped to Taiwan proper after two cases of “type A” foot-and-mouth disease were discovered on the outlying island in May and June last year.
“Type A” foot-and-mouth disease has never been detected on Taiwan proper, where only “type O” has been reported, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Quarantine Deputy Director Shih Tai-hua (施泰華) said yesterday.
Following the outbreak on Kinmen, 283 cows were culled, but as no new infections have been detected in the past three months, the bureau has decided to conditionally lift the ban, Shih said.
Kinmen may now ship raw and processed meat from even-toed hoofed animals to Taiwan, while bones, organs, heads and feet are still banned, as the virus is most concentrated in those parts of the animals, Shih said.
Until the bureau’s announcement, Kinmen was only allowed to ship pre-cooked, processed meat products such as beef jerky to Taiwan proper.
The bureau has conducted regular serum tests at Kinmen’s ranches and farms, and only cows that tested negative for foot-and-mouth disease and have been quarantined for 30 days would be slaughtered to ensure food safety, the bureau said.
In related news, Shih said the World Organization of Animal Health is still reviewing the council’s application for Taiwan proper, Penghu and Matsu to be recognized as foot-and-mouth disease-free zones where vaccination is practiced, with no infections of the disease reported in those areas since May 2013.
The organization is expected to make a decision in May when it holds its annual meeting, he said, adding that lifting the ban on the shipping of Kinmen beef and pork products might have a bearing on the result.
The council would apply for Kinmen to be recognized as a disease-free zone in July next year, two years after the last outbreak, if no new infections are detected, he said.
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