Kinmen pork barred from rest of Taiwan amid African swine fever scare

Taipei, June 18 (CNA) Shipments of pork and pork products from Kinmen County to other parts of Taiwan have been suspended until June 23 after a pig carcass found on a beach in the outlying county last week tested positive for African swine fever (ASF).

The one-week suspension was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Tuesday and took effect the same day.

The ministry implemented the measures after its Veterinary Research Institute identified the ASF virus found in the dead pig as matching a strain currently spreading in China.

The restrictions cover pork processed in Kinmen and locally manufactured pork products, as well as pork and pork products produced in other parts of Taiwan sold in Kinmen, the MOA said.

In a statement released Tuesday, the ASF Central Emergency Operation Center said the ASF-positive pig carcass was spotted by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Saturday near the beach of Triangle Fortress Cihu in the northwestern part of Kinmen's main island.

After local animal disease control personnel collected samples from the carcass, it was incinerated and the ashes buried on site, the center said.

The surrounding area was thoroughly disinfected and samples from the carcass were sent to the MOA's Veterinary Research Institute for testing, the center added.

The center noted that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing conducted by the institute detected ASF viral nucleic acid in the sample. A comparison of the P72 and B602L gene sequences showed a 100 percent similarity to the genotype II ASF virus strain currently circulating in China.

Due to Kinmen's proximity to China's Fujian Province and estuaries such as the Jiulong River, it is not uncommon for dead pigs to wash ashore, the center said.

The Kinmen County Animal and Plant Disease Control Center inspected all pig farms within a 10-kilometer radius of the carcass' discovery site as per protocol and found all livestock to be in good health, with no abnormalities detected, the center added.

Enhanced border control

On Wednesday, CGA Director-General Chang Chung-lung (張忠龍) said the agency had tightened inspections at Kinmen's Liaoluo Port -- the sole entrepôt for chilled cargo and mail shipped from the county to Taiwan proper -- by deploying personnel, two detection dogs, and portable X-ray scanners.

Taiwan has only been recently recognized as the only country in Asia free of three animal diseases -- classical swine fever, ASF and the foot and mouth disease -- thanks to strict border control and checks, the CGA said.

Taiwan has recorded a total of 19 incidents of dead pigs found along the coast testing positive for ASF, and 16 of them were reported from Kinmen, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.

Two were reported in the Matsu Islands, another Taiwan-controlled area along the Chinese coast, while one was reported in New Taipei, according to the center.