Pingtung layer farm detects highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza; the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine delayed sending samples for testing for nearly 20 days, and today culled 120,000 chickens
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine under the Council of Agriculture announced today (1/9) that a laying hen farm in Pingtung County has tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza. This is the second case since May of last year, when chickens at the Taipei City poultry wholesale market were confirmed to be infected with highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said it will cull the 120,000 chickens at this Pingtung laying hen farm today and impose immediate movement controls. In addition, a suspected avian influenza outbreak has been reported in Dalin, Chiayi, and the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine has sent samples for testing; results will be announced tomorrow.
Laying hen mortality above 0.4% should trigger testing; Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine admits it was nearly 20 days late
In mid-December of last year, a laying hen farm in Pingtung saw abnormal mortality and egg production rates, with 2,000 of 120,000 chickens dying and egg production dropping by 10% to 20%. After the owner reported it, staff from the Pingtung County Animal Disease Control Center visited the site and concluded that the feed contained vomitoxin, which caused the deaths.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said that at a normal poultry farm, if laying hen mortality exceeds 0.4% for two consecutive days, meaning more than four deaths per 1,000 chickens, samples must be collected and tested for avian influenza. The Pingtung laying hen farm raised 120,000 chickens, and 2,000 died in mid-December, a mortality rate of 1.6%, far above the 0.4% testing threshold, yet the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine only collected samples to test for avian influenza on January 7 of this year. Bureau Director-General Chang Shu-hsien said of this: "We will improve this in the future."
Chang Shu-hsien said that for this highly pathogenic avian influenza case in Pingtung, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) will be notified today, and the 120,000 chickens at the Pingtung laying hen farm will be culled and disinfected, after which healthy "sentinel chickens" will be placed in the farm and tested 21 days later; only after confirming there is no problem will the farm be allowed to resume raising poultry. In addition, sampling and monitoring will be carried out within a 1 km radius of the farm, and monitoring within a 3 km radius, once a month for three consecutive months, to confirm whether there is any virus activity nearby.
A suspected case has also been reported in Dalin, Chiayi; results will be announced tomorrow
Chiang Wen-chuan, section chief of the Livestock Husbandry Division of the Council of Agriculture, said that this Pingtung laying hen farm raises 120,000 chickens and produces an average of 100,000 eggs per day. Calculating 200 eggs per box, that is 500 boxes supplied daily. Taiwan has 26 million laying hens and supplies an average of 96,000 boxes of eggs per day, so the supply from this laying hen farm hit by highly pathogenic avian influenza is less than 0.5% of Taiwan's total, and should not affect egg prices. Previously, this laying hen farm exported 300,000 eggs per month to Hong Kong, China, and exports have now also stopped.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said that from 2008 to the present, 23 chicken farms in Taiwan have tested positive for avian influenza, of which 7 were highly pathogenic avian influenza. As migratory birds overwinter recently, coastal waterfowl are all at risk and constitute a high-risk area. In addition, poultry can easily trigger outbreaks, and operators are advised to strengthen entry and exit controls at poultry farms and not use illegal vaccines.
Deaths of waterfowl have also recently been reported in Dalin, Chiayi, with suspected avian influenza infection. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said samples have been collected successively and sent for testing, and results will be announced tomorrow.