Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has spread to a dairy farm in Kaohsiung County, despite government reassurances two weeks ago the most recent outbreak had been contained.
Almost 300 goats were killed yesterday afternoon in Alian town-ship after the Council of Agriculture confirmed that a farm there had been infected with the deadly livestock disease.
Forty-two kids died on the farm between Feb. 18 and Feb. 23. Director of the council's animal quarantine department Li Chin-lung (
The department's deputy director Sung Hua-tsung
The area around the farm has been quarantined and the 295 goats on the farm were all killed, according to a report from the Central News Agency.
Tests on the goats that died over the past few days confirmed they were infected with the O-Kinmen strain of the virus -- the same strain that struck goats in Taiwan for the first time earlier this month.
Veterinarian Lai Hsiu-sui
After FMD broke out in goats for the first time in Changhua County's Fangyuan township on Feb. 4, the council ordered mandatory immunizations for all cloven-hooved livestock -- pigs, cows, goats and deer -- which are vulnerable to the disease.
The virus does not affect humans, but people can carry the virus on their bodies for up to seven days.
The council also announced on Feb. 18 that it would cooperate with the coast guard in clamping down on smuggling across the Taiwan Strait.
The source of the virus is believed to be livestock entering illegally from China, although agriculture experts on the mainland said this was unlikely.
Zhou Heping
He acknowledged, however, that he did not know what smuggling control measures were in place in Fujian province's ports.
Four million of Taiwan's estimated seven million pigs were slaughtered in March 1997 after an outbreak of FMD.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,