Pigs on farms in Taitung County have been cleared of A(H1N1) influenza, prompting a lifting of the ban on the sale of pigs to wholesale markets, the government said yesterday.
Hsu Tien-lai (許天來), director-general of the Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said no A(H1N1) cases were found in the second and third rounds of tests that the bureau conducted on a formerly infected farm in Kuanshan Township (關山) and seven others within a 3km radius.
The A(H1N1) virus was discovered in hundreds of hogs on the Kuanshan Township farm on Nov. 5, in what was said to be a possible jump of the new flu strain from humans to pigs.
However, Hsu said it was not clear how the pigs on the farm contracted the virus.
The farm is an enclosed facility and has taken measures to keep out birds, he said, adding that the possibility of infection from other farm animals or people in passing vehicles was reasonably low.
Hsu said that on Monday samples from all the farms in question tested negative for the virus strain, which indicates that the outbreak has been contained.
Based on the test results, the bureau on Monday removed the ban on the sale of the farms’ pigs to wholesale markets.
It also discontinued its monitoring of the area.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
RSS