African Swine Fever Meat Smuggled Through: Border Intercepts 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 intercepted at the border from China have been confirmed to carry the African swine fever virus. One was a sausage brought in from Chongqing by a Taiwanese traveler, and the other was a red sausage brought in from Harbin by a Chinese 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 disposal bins at airports, while these two were seized from travelers entering through customs, making the epidemic prevention 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 from China has already spread to Southeast Asian countries, and in the future, in addition to flights from China, flights from Vietnam will also be subject to strengthened inspection. He called on people nationwide to help jointly prevent African swine fever from invading Taiwan.
Feng Hai-tung, Director-General of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (photo / Lin Yu-pu) Two New Positive African Swine Fever 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. Recently, Taiwan intercepted 3 meat products containing the African swine fever virus, all of which had been discarded in airport disposal bins. The two new cases announced today involved a sausage brought in from Chongqing by a Taiwanese traveler and a red sausage brought in from Harbin by a Chinese traveler in early December. Fortunately, they were intercepted at the border and fines were imposed.
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 again 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 of Domestic Kitchen Waste Pig Farms Begins; 5 Farms Currently Non-Compliant and Referred for Penalty
In addition to border prevention of African swine fever, another risk is pig farming with kitchen waste. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine explained that it has inventoried all 2,045 domestic kitchen waste pig farms one by one. Of the 794 farms inspected so far, 5 were non-compliant and have been referred to the Environmental Protection Administration for penalties.
Seeking to Go to China to Understand the Outbreak, Joint Epidemic Prevention in Asia
Chen Chi-chung said in an interview recently that our country's grasp of the African swine fever outbreak in China is still not comprehensive and can only be learned from data reported by China to the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health). Therefore, we hope to organize a group to the other side to understand actual cases of the outbreak, and our country is also willing to provide relevant epidemic 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, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, 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 an epidemic prevention alliance to share 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 fields, and through the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation, it has been expressed that academic institutions or epidemic prevention personnel should go to the other side to actually understand China's process of handling the outbreak, hoping to receive a positive response as soon as possible.