Taipei: The first stage of disease tracing has shown that the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak has been contained at its initial site in Taichung’s Wuqi District, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Tu Wen-jane announced Monday. The announcement was made during a press conference held by the African Swine Fever Forward Command Center in Taichung, where Tu emphasized that while the public can be “assured,” they should not become complacent.
According to Focus Taiwan, the outbreak’s timeline was clarified by Chang Ching-chang, director of the Taichung City Government Agriculture Bureau. Chang reported that a veterinary aide surnamed Wang, associated with the affected farm, notified the city’s Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office on the evening of October 13. Officials responded by visiting the site the following day. Initially, the pigs were diagnosed with actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, and no samples were taken as the farmer had administered vaccines to pigs showing nasal bleeding symptoms.
Chang explained that the pigs did not exhibit typical ASF symptoms, which led to the decision not to conduct sampling. Additionally, the pig farmer, surnamed Chen, did not breach any regulations by medicating his pigs post-abnormal deaths without notifying the contracted veterinarian.
Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih has now mandated sampling for pigs with bleeding symptoms. The initial investigation by the city government revealed that Chen sought advice from a “veterinarian” named Wang, who turned out to be only a veterinary aide, raising questions about the legality of the medication instructions provided.
Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming noted that the farm had failed to upload necessary documentation, such as videos or photographs, of food waste being cooked before feeding it to pigs. Records indicate inconsistent data uploads from May to August, prompting a call for stricter regulations.
In response, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen advocated for legal amendments to establish penalties for such violations, as current monitoring relies heavily on “moral persuasion.”
Lin Tso-hsiang, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Management Administration, stated that environmental protection agencies are required to inspect pig farm sites every two to three months, with increased frequency if record uploads are missed. However, inspections at the affected site were conducted only in May and July, not in June or August.
Chen Hung-yi, head of the bureau, reported that of the 37 pig farms in the city that feed food waste, 15 violations were identified over the past two years. Despite 24 inspections at the outbreak site over the past three years, no issues or fines were recorded. Monthly calls were made to the farm since June to encourage compliance with record uploads.