TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) announced Thursday that Taiwan has become the only country in Asia recognized as officially free of African swine fever, classical swine fever, and foot-and-mouth disease.
Cho said in a Facebook post that the World Organisation for Animal Health, WOAH, had conferred the designation, crediting years of hard work under successive governments, including that of former Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
He thanked frontline disease control staff, customs agents, pig farmers, transporters, and meat processors for their dedication, per CNA. He thanked the public for supporting prevention policies and adhering to biosecurity rules.
Taiwan’s journey began with the 1997 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, which led to a decades-long campaign that earned WOAH’s clearance in 2020. When African swine fever swept across China and much of Asia in 2018, Taiwan imposed strict border controls, and was recognized virus-free by WOAH last year.
As for classical swine fever, a disease that had afflicted Taiwan since the Japanese colonial period, Cho said Taiwan’s successful eradication came after years of aggressive vaccination programs and environmental monitoring.
Cho praised former Premier Su and ex-Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) for their leadership and urged Agriculture Minister Chen Chun-chi (陳駿季) to remain vigilant. “We did it,” Cho wrote, calling the achievement a shared national triumph.
