Taiwan has confirmed the country’s first case of the highly pathogenic H5N5 strain of avian influenza, on a duck farm in Kaohsiung’s Cishan District (旗山), Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said yesterday.
The virus was identified on Thursday last week as an H5 subtype and was confirmed as H5N5 the following day, Huang said, adding that the case has been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
According to OIE regulations, H5N5-free status can be regained if no new cases are detected within three months of preventive measures and surveillance, including the disinfection of all affected establishments, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
A surveillance plan would hopefully be completed before Dec. 12, he added.
The H5N5 case is the first in Taiwan, but the first case in Asia was in China in 2011, the council said.
Authorities have yet to determine the source of the Cishan duck farm virus, Huang said.
The farm had to cull 3,583 ducks, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director-General Tu Wen-chen (杜文珍) said.
Rapid diagnostic tests for detecting the highly pathogenic virus were conducted on five nearby farms, all of which showed negative results, meaning that the virus has not spread to other areas, she said.
High-risk areas for avian flu outbreaks in Taiwan are mainly in Changhua, Yunlin and Pingtung counties, as well as Tainan and Kaohsiung.
In the past few years, most avian flu infections have been in these hotspots, Tu said, adding that 92 of last year’s 98 cases and 54 of this year’s 55 cases were in these areas.
The H5N5 virus cannot be transmitted from animals to humans. From 2016 to last year, 15 H5N5 cases were reported in wild birds in Europe, as well as on three turkey farms in Germany and four poultry farms in Croatia.
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