Two More African Swine Fever Meat Cases Intercepted at Border: Taiwan and Mainland Travelers Carry in Chongqing Sausage and Harbin Red Sausage
As the African swine fever outbreak continues to escalate, the Council of Agriculture announced today (the 12th) that two meat products originating from China intercepted at the border have been confirmed to carry the African swine fever virus. One was a sausage brought in from Chongqing by a Taiwan-passport traveler, and the other was a red sausage brought in from Harbin by a China-passport traveler. Fortunately, both were intercepted, and the travelers have been fined. The three positive African swine fever virus samples previously seized were all found in airport disposal boxes, while these two were caught during travelers' customs entry, making the disease-control situation even more tense.
The Council of Agriculture stated that at noon today, people nationwide will receive a text message reminding them not to bring meat products back from China. Chen Chi-chung, acting chairman of the Council of Agriculture, pointed out that the African swine fever virus in China has already spread toward Southeast Asian countries. In the future, in addition to flights from China, flights from Vietnam will also be subject to stricter inspection. He called on people nationwide to help and jointly block African swine fever from invading Taiwan.
Two New African Swine Fever Positive Cases Added: Chongqing Sausage, Harbin Red Sausage
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine explained that since September, 319 meat product cases have been intercepted and fined at the border, of which 188 came from China and 131 came from other regions, mainly Vietnam. Previously, Taiwan intercepted 3 meat products containing the African swine fever virus, all of which had been discarded in airport disposal boxes. Today, two new cases were announced: in early December, a Taiwan-passport traveler brought in sausage from Chongqing, and a China-passport traveler brought in red sausage from Harbin. Fortunately, they were intercepted at the border and fined.
However, because these two cases occurred before the Legislative Yuan amended and raised the fines, the travelers only had to pay a fine of 15,000 yuan.
Chen Chi-chung, acting chairman of the Council of Agriculture, stated that if similar incidents occur in the future, high fines will absolutely be imposed, with a maximum fine of 1 million yuan. Today, people nationwide will receive a text message notification not to bring meat products back from China or Vietnam, and he called on people nationwide to help spread the word.
Full Inspection Launched at Domestic Swine Farms Using Food Waste; 5 Farms Currently Non-Compliant and Referred for Fines
In addition to blocking African swine fever at the border, another risk is raising pigs with food waste. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine explained that it has inventoried all 2,045 swine farms using food waste nationwide one by one. Of the 794 farms inspected so far, 5 are non-compliant and have been referred to the Environmental Protection Administration for fines.
Seeking to Go to China to Understand the Outbreak, Joint Epidemic Prevention in Asia
Chen Chi-chung said in an earlier interview that our country's grasp of the African swine fever outbreak in China is still incomplete and can only be learned from the data China reports to the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health). Therefore, he hopes to organize a group to go to the other side to understand actual outbreak cases, and our country is also willing to provide relevant disease-prevention technology. The Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation have been asked to convey this willingness, and a response from China is being awaited.
Tu Wen-chen, director of the Animal Health Research Institute, explained that African swine fever outbreaks exist in Russia and China, and neighboring countries are under great threat. The Asia-Pacific region, especially Northeast Asia, needs to form a disease-prevention alliance to actually share disease-prevention experience and the difficulties faced with other countries, strengthen research and diagnosis of African swine fever, and work together to prevent the spread of swine fever.
Chen Chi-chung stated that contact has already been made with university teachers and related teams specializing in veterinary medicine, and through the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation, the hope has been expressed that academic units or disease-prevention personnel can go to the other side to actually understand China's process of handling the outbreak, and he hopes for a positive response as soon as possible.