The H5N1 avian influenza virus has been found in five more poultry farms, extending an outbreak that marks the first time the strain has made the leap from waterfowl to farmed landfowl in Taiwan, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday.
The infection clusters were found in one duck and three free-range chicken farms in Erlin Township (二林), and one goose farm in Pusin Township (埔心), all in Changhua County, COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said.
The rise in cases shows that avian flu is spreading in Taiwan, although outbreaks have been contained, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Animal Disease Control Center via CNA
Authorities have ruled out the possibility that the latest H5N1 cases were transmitted from a previous cluster in Yilan County, and wild waterfowl remains the most likely vector, Huang said.
The vector for the outbreak in chicken farms was either virus-bearing wild birds that entered the farms through gaps in coop netting or poultry workers who were exposed to the pathogen, he said.
The chicken-raising Erlin and Jhutang (竹塘) townships in Changhua County were flagged as hot zones for increased monitoring and sterilization, he added.
The H5N1 pandemic has impacted the farming of chicken and eggs in the US, Europe and Japan. Last month, Taiwan reported the year’s first cluster of the disease at a duck farm in Yilan County.
The latest outbreak brings the total number of farms affected in Taiwan to 39 — 25 chicken farms, 10 duck farms and four goose farms.
The outbreaks are not expected to impact the supply of chicken meat during the Lunar New Year, as the virus has not spread to broilers and reserves in cold storage are enough to meet demand, Huang said.
Changhua and Yunlin counties have high concentrations of poultry farms, and the emergence of clusters there is concerning, but other affected regions are safe as there have been no reported cases in the two weeks since the initial outbreak, he said.
Farm operators should streamline work processes to reduce the frequency of round-ups, secure their facilities and ensure compliance with sanitation guidelines, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
A man in Tainan has been cleared on charges of public insult after giving the middle finger during a road rage incident, as judges deemed the gesture was made “briefly to express negative feelings.” In last week’s ruling at the High Court’s Tainan branch, judges acquitted a driver, surnamed Cheng (程), for an incident along Tainan’s Nanmen Road in September 2023, when Cheng had spotted a place to park his car in an adjacent lane. Cheng slowed down his vehicle to go into reverse, to back into the parking spot, but the car behind followed too closely, as its driver thought Cheng
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS