Beef exports from Kinmen County to other parts of Taiwan have been temporarily suspended after several cattle contracted lumpy skin disease (LSD), the Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday.
Seven out of 180 cattle at a farm in Jinsha Township showed signs of LSD, an infectious and sometimes fatal disease, the Kinmen County Animal and Plant Disease Control Center said.
Testing confirmed the presence of the virus, leading to the swift culling of the infected cows and the administration of vaccine boosters to the remaining cattle on Thursday, the ministry said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Inspections at farms within a 3km radius found no further cases, and experts concluded there are no signs of a broader outbreak, the ministry said.
This was the first time cows in Kinmen had gotten LSD since 2020, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency deputy director Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said.
He said that the affected farm practices grazing and some cattle might have missed vaccinations, resulting in reduced immunity.
Given Kinmen’s proximity to China, the disease might have spread from China via windborne vectors, he added.
To protect the industry, Hsu said that the ministry has suspended beef and cattle exports from Kinmen to other areas in Taiwan and has notified the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Veterinary teams are to assist in administering additional vaccinations at high-risk farms to prevent further spread, Hsu added.
The ministry said that although LSD is a WOAH-listed disease and classified as a “Category A” animal infectious disease in Taiwan, it is not zoonotic and poses no risk to humans.
Authorities would continue rigorous inspections to ensure the safety of the public’s meat supply, it added.
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