0106 African Swine Fever: Ultimatum on Kitchen Waste Pig Farming - Those Failing Inspection Within a Week Will Be Immediately Banned! Kinmen Pig Farm Tests Confirm No Infection
By Upstream-Downstream reporters Duan Yaxin and Lin Peijun
With the African swine fever epidemic raging, the Central Emergency Operation Center for African Swine Fever held a press conference today (the 6th) to address recent news on the African swine fever epidemic and follow-up measures. Regarding the border meat interception situation, Council of Agriculture Deputy Chairman Huang Jincheng said that the meat collected yesterday at the agricultural product disposal site at Kinmen Shuitou Pier tested positive, and the total number of positive cases detected so far is 10. The interval between detections in each case is getting shorter and shorter, and the sources of contaminated meat are becoming more widespread (yesterday's meat came from Fujian and Harbin), which means the epidemic in China is already a situation of comprehensive contamination, and the challenge for Taiwan of how to block African swine fever is becoming more and more severe.
Regarding another key point in blocking African swine fever, the issue of kitchen waste pig farming, Council of Agriculture Acting Chairman Chen Chi-chung said that all operators across Taiwan using kitchen waste to raise pigs will be required to apply to the environmental protection authorities and complete inspection and verification. Pig farms that fail to apply and qualify within one week will be required to suspend the use of kitchen waste for pig farming, in the hope of reducing the potential risks hidden in kitchen waste handling.
Kinmen Pig Farm Tests Show No African Swine Fever Infection
In response to the discovery of a sea-drifted pig on the coastal beach of Tianpu in Jinsha Township at the end of last year that tested positive for African swine fever virus nucleic acid, the Council of Agriculture suspended the shipment of Kinmen meat to Taiwan for 14 days starting on the 3rd and imposed movement controls and sampling monitoring on surrounding pig farms. Today (the 6th), all test results are out, and all showed negative reactions for African swine fever.
In response, Wen Shuicheng, director of the Kinmen Animal and Plant Disease Control Center (referred to as "Kinmen Disease Control Center"), said that after sampling at the eight pig farms within five kilometers of the discovery site, the African swine fever test results were negative, meaning Kinmen's pigs are healthy and safe. Tomorrow, a proposal will be made to the Council of Agriculture to lift early the movement controls on pig farms (one farm in total) and the restriction on suspending meat shipments to Taiwan.
Kinmen Disease Control Center: Do Not Let Panic Affect Kinmen Meat Sales
Wen Shuicheng said that pre-slaughter inspections of Kinmen pork have always been strict. Pigs raised on farms must first pass three months of foot-and-mouth disease monitoring, then be raised separately for 28 days of isolation and testing, with serological and virological tests, and only after being confirmed safe can they be shipped to Taiwan. Each year, 10 tons of fresh pork are shipped to Taiwan. Calculated at a shipment price of 200 yuan per kilogram, that is at least 2 million in output value, and this does not even include the souvenir gift market for Cantonese congee, shaobing, pork jerky, sausages, and more.
Wen Shuicheng emphasized that African swine fever is raging and epidemic prevention efforts must not be taken lightly, and it is indeed right to deploy ahead of time and respond in advance. "But the current situation is that before African swine fever has even entered, Kinmen's economy has already been affected. Sales of Kinmen pork products in stores on the Taiwan main island have declined, and even Aimai stores have already taken them off the shelves first. This really affects us greatly and has also caused consumer panic."
Wen said he hopes the government can implement controls at different stages based on the level of risk, and all controls must also have supporting measures, so that Kinmen's industry and every aspect can achieve balance. "Otherwise, before the 14-day control period is even over, if there is another sea-drifted pig, will the suspension of shipments to Taiwan keep escalating indefinitely? There would be no end to it."
Kinmen Strengthens Internal Epidemic Controls
Kinmen is so close to China that epidemic prevention efforts must not be taken lightly. Wen Shuicheng pointed out that there are 68 pig farms in Kinmen (11,000 pigs), of which 28 use kitchen waste for feeding (2,000 pigs). Last Friday, local pig farmers were invited to a meeting for discussion, and as soon as next week, the use of kitchen waste for pig farming in Kinmen may be fully banned. As for where the kitchen waste that the original pig farms could handle should go, he also said that an agreement has already been made with environmental protection agencies, and there will be emergency response measures, with environmental protection personnel collecting it collectively and sending it to composting sites.