1226 African Swine Fever Outbreak Drill: Don't Let African Swine Fever Destroy Taiwan! Land, Sea, and Air Frontlines Block the Virus from Abroad, and SOP for Controlling an Outbreak Once It Occurs Domestically
Bloodstained and ablaze, dead pigs were dumped from trucks, one after another falling into earthen pits to be burned and buried. Even as a drill, the scene was shocking, and everyone on site stood in solemn silence. The first-ever African swine fever prevention drill in Taiwan, China took place today, with an unprecedented large-scale mobilization straining nerves for the battle, and the lessons of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak 21 years ago resurfacing.
African swine fever has come with ferocious momentum. Last week the Executive Yuan established a central disaster response center, elevating epidemic prevention to the level of combat operations, and today simulation exercises were held at Kaohsiung Xiaogang Airport, Pingtung Yanpu Fishing Harbor, and the Pingtung Kanding Incineration Plant. The Council of Agriculture, the Customs Administration, the Coast Guard Administration, and other relevant agencies prepared rigorously for battle. Premier Lai Ching-te participated throughout the entire day, stressing that coordinated cooperation among all ministries and agencies is very important and that they must do everything possible to block the swine fever virus from invading.
Lai Ching-te: Local governments should not each go their own way; only united prevention efforts will be effective
Lai Ching-te pointed out that the central government had already moved ahead to set up a central disaster response center, and that each county and city government should also set up its own local disaster response center, which could first be placed under the agricultural unit, and once an outbreak occurs, its level should be raised further.
Lai Ching-te also stressed that there are three key points in epidemic prevention: diagnosis, epidemiological investigation, and aftermath handling. Diagnosis must be rapid, and pig farmers must all be made generally aware of the symptoms of swine fever. The reporting procedure must be simplified, and specimens should not only be sent to the animal health inspection authorities, but also to universities with testing capacity in various places.
Epidemiological investigation must pay attention to sources and destinations. Many pig farmers in Taiwan, China also raise pigs in mainland China, so in addition to paying attention to imported meat products, personnel, equipment, and vehicles are all transmission vectors, and every link must be watched carefully, with no oversight amid meticulous precautions.
As for aftermath work, Lai Ching-te suggested, "The top priority is not incinerators or burial sites, but on-site burial." As long as the material is sent out, there is a chance of spread, while landfills in counties and cities such as Yunlin and Tainan are already saturated, and incinerator capacity is also insufficient. The most important thing is still to implement training for pig farmers everywhere and require farm owners to meet biosecurity standards.
Regarding yesterday's announcement by Yunlin County banning the feeding of kitchen waste to pigs, Lai Ching-te said he suggested that county and city leaders respect the direction of the Council of Agriculture. "If kitchen waste feeding is banned rashly, kitchen waste will immediately create difficulties. Do the incinerators in each county and city have the capacity to handle it?" He believes epidemic prevention must be coordinated across all ministries and agencies; if local governments each go their own way and the central government cannot direct them, efforts will be doubled while results are halved.