The Council of Agriculture (COA) is taking all necessary measures, including vaccination, to prevent the spread of lumpy skin disease to Taiwan proper, after it was found in livestock on Kinmen, COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday.
Chen said during a radio interview that the council would supply 10,000 doses of vaccines to Kinmen County, and the inoculation of all cattle raised there would be completed within a week.
If the disease were to spread to Taiwan proper, it would devastate the cattle farming industry, especially the dairy sector, as it reduces milk production in cows, he said.
The decision to vaccinate cattle on Kinmen followed a report last week that the viral disease had been found on cattle farms there, resulting in the culling of dozens of cows.
The council at the time said it suspected that the disease had spread from China, which is only a few kilometers from the county.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine later said the virus found in infected cattle on Kinmen had a genome sequence 99 percent similar to a strain reported in China last year.
Lumpy skin disease is spread by blood-sucking insects, such as mosquitoes and flies, causing illness in 10 to 20 percent of infected animals, and has a fatality rate of 1 to 5 percent, the bureau said.
It is characterized by fever and nodules on the skin, while some infected cattle also develop swollen legs and become lame.
Chen yesterday said that apart from the vaccination program, efforts would be made to prevent the transfer of lumpy skin disease vectors to Taiwan proper.
All forms of transport between Kinmen and Taiwan proper, including boats and planes, would be disinfected, he said.
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