People can safely eat domestic pork, as African swine fever has not spread in Taiwan, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday, calling on people not to disseminate misinformation about the disease.
Demand for pork products usually rises ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, but false information about the disease has affected domestic pork sales, Chen told a news conference in Taipei.
A netizen named Gina Lin this month on Facebook wrote that the disease had been found in Taoyuan and warned people not to eat pork products, the council said.
Photo: CNA
Disinformation could undercut quarantine work and might trigger panic, the council said, adding that on Tuesday it reported the post to the Taipei Police Department.
The council is confident that African swine fever has not spread in the nation and domestic pork products are safe, as they undergo strict checks before reaching the market, Chen said.
While the disease is fatal to pigs, the virus is not transmitted to humans, National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of Toxicology professor Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛) said, adding that people should not worry about risks to human health.
The council said it has instructed customs officials to check carry-on luggage of visitors from areas that are more likely to be the source of infection — China, Hong Kong and Macau — after Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Monday ordered that all such luggage be manually checked.
The council on Dec. 18 increased fines for first offenders caught illegally carrying pork products from areas infected by the disease to NT$200,000 (US$6,485) and repeat offenders to NT$1 million.
Since then, customs officials as of Friday had intercepted 62 illegal pork products from China, while no travelers arriving from elsewhere have been intercepted, council data showed.
Since China reported its first infection in early August last year, the disease has spread to its 24 provinces and regions, with 107 cases reported as of yesterday, council data showed.
Mongolia on Monday reported its first outbreak, making it the second Asian nation to report the disease.
Later yesterday, the council said that another pig carcass found on an unpopulated island in Lienchiang County on Thursday has tested positive for African swine fever.
The virus type was an exact match to the virus in China, it said, adding that the carcass might have floated from China.
It was the second infected pig found near Taiwan proper after a carcass found in Kinmen County last month tested positive for the disease, the council said.
However, it said they were isolated cases.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS