African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases.
The ministry held a news conference today confirming that the virus was detected at a farm in Wuci District (梧棲) yesterday evening.
Authorities preemptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am and disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
Authorities also set up a 3km-radius control zone restricting movement around the affected area, it said.
The ministry is monitoring the health of all pigs in the area and investigating the source of the infection, it added.
It has also investigated the transport routes and all 33 farms associated with the suspected farm and found no abnormalities, it said.
Minister of Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) announced that an emergency response center would be set up on-site in Taichung today.
Starting from noon, transporting and slaughtering pigs has been suspended nationwide for at least five days, pending changes, and feeding pigs with kitchen waste has also been banned, Chen said.
The nation would also stop exporting pork products temporarily, he said.
All meat markets and transport vehicles would be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, he said.
Pigs that were transported before the suspension would still be allowed to enter meat markets and slaughterhouses, but cannot leave, he added.
African swine fever cannot be transmitted from animals to humans, as the virus does not replicate in the human body, so there is no risk of the infection spreading to humans.
The Central Emergency Operations Center for African Swine Fever said the virus takes a long time to completely disappear.
Not only is it highly contagious, but it can survive for about 100 days in refrigerated pork, up to 1,000 days in frozen pork and one month inside pigpens, the center said.
Taiwan became the first country in Asia to be officially free of classical swine fever (CSF), African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease in May when the World Organization for Animal Health certified its CSF-free status.
The recognition marked Taiwan’s achievement as the only Asian nation to be free of the three major swine diseases.
African swine fever has stricken many countries globally and swept across Asia since 2018, but Taiwan had effectively blocked the virus at its borders and was declared free of African swine fever in October last year.
Additional reporting by Esme Yeh
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