Taiwan, China waterfowl suspected H5N8 avian influenza outbreak? Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine says it is still looking into it
Taiwan, China, is suspected of experiencing its first large-scale outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in waterfowl, with reports of mass deaths of waterfowl at duck and goose farms in Pingtung, Chiayi and Yunlin, where the reported mortality rate reached as high as 70 percent. It is understood that the virus type of this highly pathogenic avian influenza differs from the H5N2 usually found at chicken farms, and waterfowl have almost no resistance to it. As for whether it is the same as the H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza recently found in neighboring countries, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine would only say that testing is still under way.
However, the Council of Agriculture already convened a meeting this morning at the level-2 animal epidemic emergency response center, with Deputy Minister Wang Cheng-teng serving as commander. He has required the counties and cities where highly pathogenic avian influenza has occurred to set up response centers to grasp the epidemic situation and progress of implementation, and has required the relevant counties and cities to proceed in accordance with the central government's manual of emergency response measures for avian influenza. Wang Cheng-teng said that abnormalities have so far been identified at 15 poultry farms in the three counties and cities of Pingtung, Yunlin and Chiayi, and as for which virus type it is, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said the test results will not come out until tomorrow.
It is understood that the county and city hardest hit by this wave of highly pathogenic avian influenza in waterfowl is Pingtung County, where it has already been spreading for two months. The earliest outbreak is suspected to have occurred at a laying duck farm somewhere in Pingtung; the farm owner culled the ducks, and it is suspected that other duck farms purchased them, causing the epidemic to gradually spread.
Industry operators widely say that a breeding goose farm in Dalin, Chiayi, received an order from the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine yesterday to cull the entire flock. The breeding geese at that farm had previously shown poor appetite and stopped laying eggs, with more than three thousand deaths recorded and a mortality rate as high as 70 percent. After receiving the report, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine ordered the local animal epidemic prevention unit yesterday afternoon to cull the entire flock. However, the bureau denied that culling had already taken place, saying only that it had required movement controls on the problem poultry farm.
Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Wang Cheng-teng said that abnormalities have so far been identified at 15 poultry farms, spanning laying hens, laying ducks, breeding geese and meat geese, with rearing ages ranging from 4 weeks to 20 weeks. Movement controls have already been imposed on these poultry farms, and whether to cull will be decided after the test results come out. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine has also required local county and city governments to conduct reporting and inspection of all poultry farms within their jurisdictions. Bureau Director-General Chang Shu-hsien said that, effective immediately, the three counties and cities where the epidemic has been reported are required to complete reporting and inspection of ducks and geese, the waterfowl, within three days, while land fowl must be reported and inspected by February 17.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said that since mid-December of last year (year 103 of the Republic of China calendar), cold air masses have arrived one after another, with sustained low temperatures and damp cold, making animals prone to stress and triggering disease. In addition, most waterfowl farms in our country use open rearing systems, and the risk of disease being introduced by people, vehicles and disease vectors is high. It therefore especially calls on waterfowl breeders to strengthen control of the entry and exit of people and vehicles in farm areas, to avoid rendering trucks and collection and transport vehicles entering the farms and spreading disease, and also asks them to strengthen the installation and maintenance of shading and bird-proof facilities, and to carry out all-in, all-out operations, so as to implement cleaning and disinfection of farm areas.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine requires operators to observe the health of waterfowl independently every day. If a drop in egg production or abnormal deaths occur, they should immediately report to the local animal epidemic prevention authority for assistance with diagnosis and confirmation and guidance. Those who fail to report will, in accordance with the Regulations on Prevention and Control of Animal Infectious Diseases, have their culled animals not compensated and be fined a sum of not less than 50,000 New Taiwan dollars and not more than 1 million New Taiwan dollars. The bureau has also simultaneously asked county and city animal epidemic prevention authorities to strengthen epidemic visits, reporting and inspection of waterfowl farms under their jurisdiction and to provide diagnostic services, which operators are asked to make good use of.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine stressed that avian influenza has broken out successively in Europe, the Americas and Asia, and operators must absolutely not take it lightly, and must not use illegal vaccines, so as to safeguard poultry production and epidemic prevention safety. The bureau further said that waterfowl are carriers of avian influenza, and low-pathogenic virus infections are often seen; they must not be raised together with chickens and pigs. Relevant operators are asked not to travel to countries in epidemic areas, and also not to invite workers from countries in epidemic areas to visit domestic poultry farms, so as to jointly prevent the introduction of disease.