Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan has made headlines worldwide for its impressive handling of the disease. Yet while the nation has been praised for its swift and effective response to the global health crisis, its great success in preventing the spread of animal diseases is also well worth noting.
On Friday, the Council of Agriculture announced that Taiwan has eradicated all three major diseases affecting pigs: foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever and African swine fever. This is a remarkable accomplishment, as other nations have taken 20 to 30 years to achieve the same feat, while Taiwan did so in just six years, thanks to the council’s leadership and cooperation with pig farmers and other agencies.
Since it spread to Asia in 2018, Taiwan has managed to keep African swine fever from entering the country. While all of its neighbors are battling the deadly disease that has wreaked havoc on national pig industries, Taiwan has kept it at bay through meticulous border checks and strategic quarantine. When pig carcasses from China washed ashore in Kinmen and Lienchiang counties in late 2018 and 2019, authorities acted quickly to confirm their infection, expanded testing and shut down the transport of pigs from the counties.
The eradication of foot-and-mouth disease was another major success story. Using the same successful virology handbook, the nation was able to come back from a major outbreak in 1997 that devastated the nation’s pork industry. Before then, Taiwan was among the world’s largest exporters.
By 2007, Taiwan was free of the disease, and in 2019, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) declared Taiwan (minus Kinmen) free of foot-and-mouth disease, without requiring vaccination. By 2020, pork exports were allowed to resume, although many nations — including Japan — still ban imports from regions affected by classical swine fever.
Friday’s news conference was held to announce the successful eradication of this last affliction, with vaccinations no longer required from Sunday and breeding pig vaccinations to end from July 1. The government is to apply to the WOAH in July next year to be recognized as free of classical swine fever without vaccination, as it would have been a year since immunizations ceased. If approved, Taiwan would be declared free of swine fever in 2025, becoming the first Asian nation to achieve the coveted demarcation.
If all goes according to plan, it would be a boon to the nation’s substantial pork industry, as its status as free from the big three swine diseases would make its exports highly attractive.
The nation’s successes also extend to other animal diseases. The council late last month announced that goat pox vaccinations would also no longer be required from this year, after it successfully contained an outbreak that began in 2008. While still ongoing, the council is also confident it has contained outbreaks of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which jumped to farmed poultry from wild waterfowl. Thanks to Taiwan’s proven track record of transparency, competency and industry cooperation, there is every reason to have confidence in these and other eradication efforts.
Taiwan’s impressive record in handling pandemics — human and animal — is a testament to its commitment to public health. It has proven time and again that it has much to offer the international community, and is more than deserving of a place at the table to share its expertise. With Taiwan’s help, its success stories might be replicated across the world.
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