All 120,000 chickens at a farm in Pingtung County were culled after some had been confirmed to have become infected with the highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza, according to the Pingtung County Agriculture Department.
The farm in southern Taiwan reported sporadic deaths of chickens early last month, with deaths continuing to climb despite vaccinations. Officials took samples again on Monday and confirmed the infection as H5N2.
The farm and two or three others nearby have never reported avian flu virus infections before, a county official said.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Chang Su-san (張淑賢) said that the farm could resume raising chickens, adding that it must wait 42 days after disinfection and monitoring.
The department also demanded that 50 employees and 10 frequent visitors to the farm have their health monitored for a 10-day period.
To prevent another outbreak, the bureau plans to reinforce monitoring of farms within a 3km radius, and regularly take samples for testing from farms within a 1km radius of the affected farm.
Chang said that the death rate in poultry has decreased to 40 per day, falling below the total considered abnormal, adding that egg production was also back to normal.
Pingtung County Agriculture Department Deputy Director-General Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) said his department and the Animal Disease Control Center have put a ban on the movement of chickens and begun to disinfect the farm, and would continue to monitor the situation.
Yao said that some eggs were shipped from the farm before the discovery, but added that there was no need for concern because eggs pose no threat if they are cooked.
The department said while farms nearby have no confirmed infections, farms in Sinyuan Township (新園) and Wandan Township (萬丹) have reported irregular deaths of ducks and geese, and samples have been taken for testing.
H5N2 is often reported in poultry, but no human infections of the virus have been confirmed so far.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS