Retired professor Luo Chu-fang (羅竹芳) has become the first Taiwanese to win a World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) honorary award, National Cheng Kung University said on Sunday.
The OIE confers annual awards for outstanding contributions to the control of animal disease and/or veterinary public health.
Luo was honored for her research into shrimp diseases, which led to her lab becoming famous for studying new shrimp diseases and the development of diagnostic tools to detect viral diseases in shrimp, the school said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University
Luo taught at National Taiwan University, where she conducted the bulk of her research, before transferring to Cheng Kung in 2013, where she taught until her retirement last month.
Despite her retirement, Luo’s enthusiasm for research is unabated, and she is working on the nation’s first standardized shrimp breeding area in Hualien County, the statement said.
Luo began studying crustaceans in 1994 after witnessing the effects of the white spot syndrome virus on shrimp and the aquaculture industry.
Her research at the time on the pathogenic mechanisms of white spot disease, which is caused by a virus, was very important, a person in the shrimp industry said.
Scientists had thought that the disease was caused by a baculovirus, but Luo used DNA sequencing and viral pathogen assembly mechanisms to determine that it was caused by a new virus.
Thanks to that research, Luo’s lab was designated a reference lab by the OIE.
Having published several papers on shrimp breeding while at NTU, after switching schools, she used the results to help aquaculture farmers develop their businesses, Luo said.
While at Cheng Kung, Luo studied the breeding of specific pathogen-free shrimp and cultured shrimp resistant to viral diseases, set up a research and development center for shrimp aquaculture, and built a high-tech shrimp farm to promote a new form of shrimp farming management.
In 2013, Luo collaborated with researchers in Thailand to develop diagnostic kits for the detection of viral diseases in shrimp, which have tremendously benefited the marine biotechnology industry and shrimp aquaculture, Cheng Kung said in the statement.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
One of two tropical depressions that formed offshore this morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. It is expected to move in a northwesterly direction as it continues building momentum, possibly intensifying into Typhoon Mitag this weekend, she added. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is expected to approach southeast of Taiwan on Monday and pass through the Bashi Channel between Tuesday and Wednesday,
About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said. In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks. Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had
RSS