The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday issued a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs after African swine fever was confirmed at a hog farm in Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲) on Tuesday evening.
The detection means Taiwan has lost its status as the only Asian country free of classical swine fever (CSF), African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease.
Authorities pre-emptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am, disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading and set up a 3km-radius control zone restricting movement around the affected area, the ministry told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
It said it is monitoring the health of all pigs in the area and investigating the source of the infection.
The ministry reviewed transport routes and all 33 farms associated with the suspected farm and found no abnormalities, it said.
An emergency response center was yesterday set up on-site in Taichung, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said.
Starting from noon, transporting and slaughtering pigs are suspended nationwide for at least five days, pending changes, while feeding pigs with kitchen waste is also prohibited, Chen said, adding that Taiwan would temporarily halt the export of pork products.
All meat markets and vehicles used to transport hogs 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, Chen added.
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday wrote on Facebook that he has asked the Executive Yuan to apply the strictest standards in implementing government disease-prevention measures.
People do not need to panic, as African swine fever cannot be transmitted from animals to humans, he added.
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 in May became the first country in Asia to be officially free of CSF, African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease when the World Organisation for Animal Health certified its CSF-free status.
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.
Pork is a staple in Taiwanese cuisine, while the pork industry is a central part of the nation’s agricultural industry. Over the years, Taiwan has implemented stringent control measures to safeguard its pork industry, which generates about NT$70 billion (US$2.3 billion) annually.
Additional reporting by Esme Yeh and CNA
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS