TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The ban on the transportation of pigs imposed after an African swine fever outbreak will end Thursday noon, while slaughtering hogs can resume from midnight Friday morning.
The restrictions were imposed after the virus was found at a hog farm in Taichung’s Wuqi District on Oct. 21. A ban on feeding pigs with kitchen waste will continue as the practice was believed to have caused the outbreak, the Liberty Times reported.
During a nationwide review, no other cases of African swine fever came to light outside of Wuqi farm, the authorities said. Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) thanked farmers for their cooperation, adding applications for subsidy measures could start Friday.
Hogs dying on the way to wholesale markets or acting strangely at the slaughterhouse will still be tested for diseases up to the end of the year, Chen said.
Operators of meat stalls at markets are eligible for NT$30,000 (US$971) subsidies, but they first need to clean their stalls before Friday. Local governments have already made lists of the locations involved and handed them over to the Ministry of Economic Affairs for review.
