TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has not recorded a single case of classical swine fever for 17 years, inspiring hope the country can officially be declared free of the disease in May 2025, reports said Thursday (July 6).
If no cases occur this year, the Council of Agriculture (COA) plans to apply to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in July 2024 to have Taiwan declared free of swine fever. This could be forthcoming in May 2025 at the earliest, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported.
Taiwan is already one of only two nations in East Asia without African swine fever, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told the Cabinet on Thursday. Following 24 years of efforts, foot-and-mouth disease had also been eradicated, a rare feat in Asia, he added.
The campaign to eliminate traditional swine fever would make Taiwan the only country in Asia without any of the three animal diseases, Chen said. The latest stage in the campaign was to end vaccinations for all pigs from this year until June 2024.
The premier called on cooperation between the central government, local authorities, and farmers to supervise the process and to prevent the emergence of new cases. Tests conducted over the past six months showed that the risk of a new outbreak was low, the COA said.