Animal and livestock disease control authorities in Changhua County raised an alert on Thursday against a possible outbreak of African swine fever that has reportedly wreaked havoc on hog farms in northern China recently.
Officials at the Animal Disease Control Center of Changhua County quoted foreign news wire services as reporting that an outbreak of a disease similar to African swine fever has been reported at hog farms in areas of northern China's Heilongjiang Province, bordering Russia.
Russia has reportedly reinforced its controls along the border with China in a bid to keep the hog disease at bay.
CHINESE PIG FARMERS
Changhua officials urged hog farm operators in the county and the rest of the country to strengthen disease prevention measures and to avoid inviting their Chinese counterparts to visit local farms or livestock markets.
They also called for members of Taiwan's public not to purchase pork and pork products from unknown sources.
They said that African swine fever is a highly contagious, generalized disease of pigs caused by a virus known as iridovirus.
The virus resists inactivation and can persist in meat for up to 15 weeks, processed ham for up to 6 months, and up to one month in contaminated livestock pens.
The disease is endemic to most of southern Africa and on the Iberian peninsula of Europe.
Since the 1960s, outbreaks have occurred in France, Italy, Malta, Belgium, Holland, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Outbreaks occur when domestic pigs come in contact with carrier ticks, rather than from direct transmission from other pigs or warthogs.
EXCRETIONS, SECRETIONS
In Europe, direct transmission is more important as the virus is shed in high concentration in the animals' excretions and secretions during the acute phase the disease.
After an incubation period of five to 15 days, the disease may manifest itself in a number of forms. Animals found to be in the peracute phase of the disease usually die soon after discovery, while pigs found to be in the acute phase of the disease can exhibit a variety of symptoms.
In the beginning, infected animals will exhibit high fevers of up to 42oC, followed by one to two days of loss of appetite and recumbency, skin blotching, diarrhea or miscarriages. Mortality is close to 100 percent within seven days, the Changhua animal disease control officials said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS