Taipei poultry market confirmed to have H5 avian flu cases

Taipei--Five batches of chickens slaughtered at a wholesale poultry market in Taipei have been confirmed to be infected with H5 avian flu, the Taipei City Animal Protection Office said Monday.

The office was informed by veterinarians at the market Saturday night and early Sunday of the suspected avian flu symptoms, including anomalies in the skin, bleeding of internal organs and swollen eyes in the five batches of chickens.

The office, acting according to standard operating procedures, sent the suspected chickens for inspection, disinfected the market, suspended slaughtering operations for 24 hours, and seized 304 slaughtered chickens.

According to office director Yen I-feng (???), the five batches of chickens came from poultry farms in the Kaohsiung metropolitan area and Miaoli, Pingtung and Yunlin counties, and the office has alerted those areas that the farms should be inspected.

The seized 304 slaughtered and frozen chickens were all destroyed, Yen said.

The office said that with summer approaching, the spread of avian flu will ease, but sporadic cases are still being detected, and it urged the public to consume only well-cooked poultry and buy only certified poultry products.

Taiwan saw an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N6 influenza A virus in February but has since contained the disease through the cooperation of central and local governments.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel