Ahead of World Rabies Day on Sept. 28, the Council of Agriculture, the Taiwan Veterinary Medical Association and local animal protection agencies across the nation are offering rabies vaccines to pet cats and dogs for free or at discounted prices to raise awareness of the disease and halt its spread.
The council’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Chang Su-San (張淑賢) said yesterday that about 1.02 million doses of vaccine were given last year — about 630,000 between July and September.
Bureau statistics showed that out of the 4,098 canines, felines, bats and wild animals inspected between January last year and August, 384 ferret badgers had rabies. Two other cases involved a puppy and a house shrew that had been bitten by rabid ferret-badgers.
Photo: CNA
Rabies is most prevalent in Greater Taitung, where 186 cases occurred, statistics showed.
However, statistics on pet cats produced from July last year to June and on dogs from August last year to July showed that the vaccination rates for each have dropped, from 69 percent to 61 percent.
“The vaccination rate must be at least 70 percent to effectively curb the spread of rabies from animals to people,” she said, adding that owners of unvaccinated pets risk a fine of up to NT$50,000.
The Taiwan Veterinary Medical Association said that members are to bicycle to Greater Kaohsiung on Sept. 27 and to Pingtung County on Sept. 28 to give free rabies shots.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS