The government yesterday announced a ban on import of birds and other products from Malaysia, where an outbreak of deadly bird flu was reported in a remote village near the border with Thailand on Wednesday.
According to the Council of Agriculture yesterday, it had obtained information from Singapore's Agri-food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) of another outbreak of the deadly avian flu in Malaysia. The council's Animals and Plants Inspection and Quarantine Bureau later announced a ban on the import of birds and poultry products from Malaysia to block possible spread of the virus here.
"Since Taiwan remains an area unaffected by the virus, we have issued the ban in a bid to protect not only people but also our poultry industry," the bureau's Deputy Director General Yeh Ying (葉瑩), said.
However, pet bird merchants are used to introduce several kinds of pet bird from Malaysia. Council officials yesterday stressed the risk of introducing pet birds from areas affected by deadly bird flu.
According to media reports, Malaysia yesterday euthanized hundreds of birds in a village where the outbreak was discovered in order to prevent a wider transmission of bird flu, which killed 27 people in Southeast Asia earlier this year. Malaysian officials said the source of the outbreak was not known, but they were eyeing the border with Thailand, the world's fourth largest chicken exporter, until an outbreak of bird flu hit this year prompted the cull of more than 60 million birds.
Bureau officials said that they are monitoring not only Asia but also the world for another possible outbreak of the virus. Early this month, Taiwan added South Africa to its list of areas banned from exporting poultry products here.
Bureau officials yesterday reiterated the necessity of being alert when traveling to areas affected by the deadly avian bird flu strain H5N1. These areas include South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the southern US.
Despite being surrounded by countries struggling to deal with the H5N1 bird flu strain, Taiwan remains clear of that virus. The nation's poultry farmers, however, have been urged by the council to monitor their flocks more closely because farms have been affected by the less pathogenic H5N2 strain earlier this year.
Since March, no similar cases have been reported in the country.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS