The source of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak at a hog farm in Taichung was likely incompletely steamed kitchen waste, the ASF central response unit said yesterday.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Tu Wen-jane (杜文珍) said the inference was based on the significantly higher 39.3 percent death rate of pigs that ate leftovers as feed compared with those that ate regular feed (2.5 percent).
Samples from another hog farm, which acquired kitchen waste from the same place as the ASF-positive farm, but had properly steamed the leftovers and uploaded that data as scheduled, tested negative for ASF multiple times, she said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The ASF-affected farm had not uploaded data on kitchen waste processing after July and had not bought more fuel for steaming after getting two 20-liter tanks of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in April, Tu said, adding that personnel found the two tanks at the farm when disinfection was conducted last week.
The possibility that the virus was carried by people, pigs or vehicles has been ruled out, she said.
National Taiwan University veterinary medicine professor Tsai Hsiang-jung (蔡向榮) said that investigating the farm’s operations was difficult, as the farm’s management records had reportedly been “damaged” in September.
The investigators initially did not know that the farm owner only bought fuel for steaming leftovers once this year until they called the LPG supplier, he said, adding that the owner bought fuel three times last year.
Although the owner said that farm staff used wood as fuel, he could not show any evidence, Tsai said.
Even if the owner steamed the leftovers using wood as fuel, the temperatures might not have remained above 90°C for at least an hour, which is needed to exterminate viruses, he added.
In related developments, personnel from the Taichung Animal Protection Office on Sunday disinfected the ASF-positive farm, without notifying the ASF central unit, leaving the farm too wet to collect valid samples.
Veterinary Research Institute Director-General Deng Ming-chung (鄧明中) yesterday said that the farm remained wet as of 10am.
Whether the wetness was caused by the office’s disinfection remains uncertain, he said, adding that sampling would not be conducted until the conditions at the site meets ASF testing guidelines.
The city government on Sunday said it did not order the office to conduct the disinfection.
A worker hired by the office, surnamed Cheng (鄭), said they misunderstood their supervisor’s order and entered the farm to conduct the disinfection, it said.
A source speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday said that Cheng is a temporary worker hired by the office to execute tasks under the ASF response scheme.
Cheng receives daily wages, which were fully covered by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, they said.
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