An outbreak of tilapia lake virus that has killed a large number of the fish in Taoyuan would not infect other animals or people, Council of Agriculture officials said yesterday.
The agency’s Animal Health Research Institute on Monday last week confirmed that a large number of tilapia found dead at a fish farm in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) had contracted the virus, which is foreign to Taiwan.
The council on Friday invited experts to form an ad hoc committee to discuss ways to deal with the outbreak.
The virus mainly affects certain species of tilapia, which see mortality rates of up to 90 percent, the council said in a press statement.
Infected fish might display reduced energy levels, swollen eyes and bleeding, the council said.
“People and land animals are not susceptible to the virus,” the council said.
Asked about whether infected tilapia could have been sold on the market, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine’s Animal Quarantine Division chief Peng Ming-hsing (彭明興) yesterday said that was impossible because infected fish could easily be identified by vendors and would not be sold.
“Food security is not an issue in this case,” the bureau’s Deputy Director General Shih Tai-hua (施泰華) said. “Even if someone ate infected tilapia, they would not be infected.”
A total of 900,000 tilapia had been imported from China so far this year, Shih said.
However, the species of tilapia imported from China is not susceptible to the virus and authorities are still determining the source of the virus, he said.
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said the epidemic had dealt a serious blow to fish markets and the council should not be negligent just because people will not be infected.
The nation’s tilapia exports are withering and the tilapia industry might soon disappear if domestic consumers would continue to lose confidence in the fish, Cheng warned.
The council should fight the outbreak with an “iron fist” by killing all infected fish immediately and offering full reimbursement to affected fish farmers, he said.
According to the World Organization for Animal Health’s disease report last month, the pathogen environment of the virus is fresh and brackish water, but its original source is not yet known.
Additional reporting by Chiu Yi-tung
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
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
RSS