0108 African Swine Fever"Experts convene to diagnose gaps in epidemic prevention: border X-ray machines and detection dogs are understaffed, and the pig farm supply chain must be fully traceable
To comprehensively block African swine fever, the Central Emergency Operation Center for African Swine Fever held an expert meeting today (the 8th) to conduct a full discussion of the current shortcomings in epidemic prevention measures. On the aspect of blocking the disease from abroad, in response to insufficient capacity for border management X-ray machine screening and quarantine dogs, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng said more resources will be invested to strictly prevent infiltration. Experts called for strengthening the formulation of standard operating procedures for handling an outbreak, including control of the domestic transport flow of pigs and upgrading disinfection models, and for putting forward more precise plans on these fronts.
Strengthen border control: Taoyuan Airport needs to boost X-ray machine and quarantine dog capacity
Peng Ming-hsing, head of the Animal Quarantine Division of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said that judging from the cases that have tested positive for African swine fever so far, "passengers carrying meat products into the country" is the highest-risk link among all pathways. Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng explained that on the Mini Three Links, broadcasts reminding people not to carry meat products begin as soon as they board the ship or flight, and upon entry both checked luggage and carry-on luggage pass through X-ray machines, with quarantine dogs also conducting a second layer of screening at this stage. However, the inspection procedure at Taoyuan Airport is not so elaborate: because the number of passengers is large, only checked luggage passes through X-ray machines, and quarantine dogs can only conduct random checks on passengers. By comparison, this is indeed clearly insufficient.
Peng Ming-hsing explained that discussions have been arranged for the day after tomorrow (the 10th) with the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Aviation Police Bureau, the National Immigration Agency and Taoyuan Airport Corporation to move the inspection line for quarantine dogs to sniff meat products forward, so as to increase passenger searches without delaying the speed of entry. He also hopes that luggage arriving from China will be concentrated on fixed baggage carousels to target the high-risk group, so that inspection personnel can leave no one unchecked.
Huang Chin-cheng also admitted that the number of quarantine dogs is indeed far from sufficient, and because each dog's condition differs, out of 100 dogs trained, only about 20 ultimately become qualified quarantine dogs. Peng Ming-hsing said there is currently a plan to purchase X-ray machines, but from purchase to introduction, X-ray machines will require several months. Although a budget has been allocated for border management, can the execution level keep up with the current tense situation? This will probably have to await stricter supervision in the future.
If an outbreak occurs, pork supply will be regulated by the Central Animal Industry Association
If an outbreak occurs domestically and may affect the pork supply, the Council of Agriculture said it will, according to the virus incubation period, consider after assessment implementing a nationwide market shutdown of 4 – 6 days to prevent meat prices from falling too sharply. At present, meat markets, private slaughterhouses and freezing plants slaughter about 165,000 pigs per week. In response to pig controls in various counties and cities, weekly slaughter volume can be increased by 10,000-20,000 head to support short-term supply. If supply is insufficient, the Central Animal Industry Association will release frozen stored pork (630 tonnes) and coordinate with the frozen goods association and its members to release inventory.
Why not completely ban feeding pigs with food waste? Experts call on the Environmental Protection Administration to consider reducing food waste
Regarding doubts from all sides about "why not completely ban food waste?" Huang Chin-cheng said that considering that the capacity for handling food waste is not yet in place, if there is no phased approach, abruptly banning the feeding of food waste to pigs would make the domestic food waste disposal problem even more difficult. At present, the focus is on vigorously guiding pig farms to transition to feed-based raising.
The Environmental Protection Administration said it hopes the public will first drain food waste themselves, so that at least 70 percent of food waste volume can be reduced. If food waste volume increases in the future, because incinerators in various counties and cities are all nearly saturated, composting and landfill will be priority considerations. Chen Chih-feng, head of the Department of Animal Science at National Chung Hsing University, also believes that the food waste problem needs to be solved in stages. An immediate ban would create environmental problems. He also called on the Environmental Protection Administration to think about how to reduce food waste and propose solutions at the source.