In the wake of chicken deaths on farms in Changhua, Chiayi and Tainan counties, agriculture officials yesterday urged chicken farmers to stay calm and cooperate with authorities over the weeks ahead.
But some farmers in southern Taiwan have been dumping dead chickens.
PHOTO: CHEN CHING-MIN, TAIPEI TIMES
Yesterday, sanitation workers were reported to be pulling hundreds of dead chickens from Chiangchun River in Tainan County.
In response to the reports, Tainan County Councilor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) urged the central government to implement stricter procedures for the handling of chickens raised on disease-affected farms.
Earlier this month, 55,000 chickens on two farms in Changhua and Chiayi counties were slaughtered after the discovery of the weaker H5N2 virus.
After analyzing samples collected from both farms, the Animal and Plant Inspection and Quarantine Bureau yesterday released sequencing data which indicated that H5N2 virus samples found at the two sites were virtually identical.
Because the locations of the affected farms are not on known routes for migratory birds, bureau officials said yesterday that smuggled bird-flu vaccines were likely to be involved.
"If illegal vaccines were available here, then smuggling existed," said bureau deputy director general Yeh Ying (葉瑩) at a press conference yesterday.
Yeh said that to further identify the source of the strain, the government needed to acquire vaccines to compare sequencing results.
Yeh said that officials would remain on high alert regarding the approach of migratory birds to protect Taiwan from the more prevalent avian influenza virus, also known as H5N1, which is wreaking havoc in neighboring countries.
Some migratory birds leave Siberia and stop by Japan and the two Koreas before arriving in Taiwan. Others travel along the Chinese coast and Kinmen before arriving in Taiwan.
"Because ducks contaminated by the bird-flu virus were found in Kinmen last month, we will have to pay more attention to migratory birds that pass by there," Yeh said.
According to the Council of Agriculture's Animal Health Research Institute, the H5N2 virus found on the two farms was quite similar to that originally identified in Mexico in 1994. But experts at the institute said that it was almost impossible for the strain to have been carried by migratory birds all the way to Taiwan.
Instead, "the strain might have originated from vaccines containing the active virus," institute director Lin Shih-yu (林士鈺) said.
People who smuggle bird-flu vaccines face three years' imprisonment. Those administering bird-flu vaccines to chickens face a fine between NT$6,000 and NT$18,000.
Other agriculture officials, however, have declined to confirm the connection between smuggled vaccines and the chicken deaths in Taiwan due to lack of evidence.
The bureau has also called for assistance from both the police and investigators in tracking down sources of H5N2.
Farmers at affected farms yesterday also denied the accusation involving illegal vaccines.
Yesterday, the bureau named Happy Shieh (謝快樂), a professor of veterinary medicine at National Chung Hsing University, as its sole delegate to attend a regional emergency summit to be held today in Thailand to discuss the outbreak of bird flu in Asia.
Yeh said that Shieh would inform the international community that the H5N1 virus was not present in Taiwan.
Shieh would also offer other delegations a summary of Taiwan's experience in guarding against bird flu as well as learning of steps taken by other countries, Yeh said.
Also see story:
Bird flu arrives in Laos, nears China
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had