An exercise was conducted in Pingtung yesterday to help the government gear up for a possible bird flu outbreak.
According to the Council of Agriculture (COA) the exercise was based on an imaginary situation in which 6,000 chickens died due to the disease on a farm in Wandan township, Pingtung County.
During the exercise the owner of the farm filed a report to a Wandan township veterinary office. The notification triggered a series of reports, leading to the mobilization of a task force which analyzed the information to decide on a solution. Epidemic prevention workers were ordered to slaughter, disinfect and incinerate chickens raised on the affected farm in order to block any possible spread of the disease.
"The exercise provides a chance for relevant parties to master the procedures and to ensure the safety of humans," said Chiang Yi-nan (江益男), director general of the COA's Animals and Plants Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.
Chiang, who supervised yesterday's exercise together with Pingtung County Commissioner Su Chia-chuan (蘇嘉全), said that improving the monitoring of farm birds and eradicating the causes of the disease were two of the most effective strategies to prevent and control the spread of bird flu.
The exercise was held after the discovery of the H5N2 virus, a weak strain of bird flu virus, on two farms in Changhua and Chiayi counties last week.
Almost 55,000 chickens that had been raised on the two farms were slaughtered.
Yan Jer-jea (顏哲傑), director of the Division of Immunization under the Center for Disease Control, who observed the exercise in Pingtung yesterday, strongly urged all farmers handling chickens and ducks to have themselves vaccinated against flu.
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COA officials yesterday reite-rated that the H5N2 virus poses little risk to humans, but nonetheless urged people to avoid buying chickens that have been slaughtered in unhygienic environments in traditional markets, and to not buy live chickens.
According to the council's Animal Health Research Institute, Taiwan became more vulnerable to bird flu this year due to the increase in the number of bird flu cases reported in neighboring countries and the occurrence of a weak strain domestically.
The institute's director, Lin Shih-yu (林士鈺), called for an enhanced monitoring network in order to prevent an outbreak of bird flu in Taiwan.
The council yesterday identified several potential hot spots in Tainan, Ilan, Chiayi and Changhua counties. Serum tests will be conducted for all birds raised in these areas.
The COA will also improve the analysis of the droppings of migratory birds in estuaries of eastern Lanyang River, northern Tamsui River, southern Tsengwen River and in Kinmen County.
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