The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture yesterday confirmed that African swine fever had been found on a pig farm in Sichuan Province, making it the 18th Chinese province or municipality to report an outbreak of the highly contagious disease since the beginning of August, despite Beijing’s efforts to curb the transport of animals and cull swine to halt the spread of the disease.
Despite authorities’ repeated claims to have contained the outbreak, the disease has continued to spread, yet it was not until last week that Sichuan Province banned the import of live hogs as well as hog products, even though neighboring Guizhou Province had earlier reported an outbreak.
The rapid spread of the disease across a swathe of China since it was first reported on Aug. 3 in Liaoning Province in the northeast of China highlights the difficulty of eradicating African swine fever once it takes hold, as the virus can survive in the environment for long periods, up to 100 days in refrigerated meat and 10 times as long in frozen products.
In addition, given Beijing’s history of unreliable reporting and efforts to conceal previous health threats to humans and animals, from the epidemic of HIV and AIDS from contaminated blood products to the SARS outbreak to tainted pet food, animal feed, toothpaste and milk powder, Chinese claims in relation to African swine fever should be viewed skeptically.
That is why the pace at which Taiwanese authorities are taking steps to prevent the disease from spreading to this nation is worrying.
The Council of Agriculture on Aug. 17 announced it would introduce more quarantine measures, such as ensuring food waste or leftovers from aircraft, cruise ships and fishing boats are destroyed, and increasing checks on goods brought from China by ferry passengers arriving in Kinmen, while in September the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said it would intensify inspections of airline passengers’ luggage.
However, it took until last month for the council to announce that it planned to raise the maximum fine for illegally importing meat, since despite its warnings against smuggling Chinese pork products, there had been nearly 200 cases between Sept. 1 and Oct. 17, and another 43 even after it began imposing the maximum fine of NT$15,000 per case.
Yet raising the fine requires the legislature to amend the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Disease (動物傳染病防治條例) and there is no guarantee that such an amendment can be passed before the legislative session ends next month, even though Premier William Lai (賴清德) said the Cabinet would negotiate with party caucuses to speed up its passage.
The council on Friday last week announced it would hold a nationwide drill on quarantine measures against African swine fever, the first such large-scale action against an animal disease since one in 2005 to curb the spread of avian influenza — but not until next month.
It was not until this week that the council asked Taiwanese e-commerce enterprises to remove Chinese meat products from their Web sites.
Ocean Affairs Council Chairman Hwung Hwung-hweng (黃煌煇) on Thursday told lawmakers that he would resign if African swine fever entered the nation via products smuggled in by sea.
This nation does not need vows to resign or other grandstanding, it needs the council and other officials to act faster and more decisively, including expanding public information campaigns to ensure travelers, fishing boat owners and crews, and others understand just what a threat the disease poses to a pork-loving society.
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