TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Emergency Operation Center announced Wednesday that pork and pork product shipments from Kinmen to Taiwan and the other outlying islands will be suspended for seven days after a pig carcass found on the island tested positive for African swine fever.
The Coast Guard Administration Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch said it discovered the carcass Sunday near the seawall at Lake Chih, per UDN. Personnel at the scene notified the county's Animal and Plant Disease Control Center, which collected samples, completed quarantine procedures and disposed of the carcass.
Kinmen County's Department of Economic Development said veterinarians had inspected all 21 pig farms within a 10-kilometer radius of where the carcass was found and reported that the animals appeared healthy, per China Times.
The emergency operations center said the carcass had tested positive for African swine fever, but that genome sequencing by the agriculture ministry was still pending, per NOWNews. It added that inspections of travelers entering and leaving Kinmen would be stepped up to prevent pork and pork products from leaving the island.
The center said the export ban would be lifted if no additional cases are detected during the seven days. It also urged the public not to touch animal carcasses found along the coast and instead report them to the Coast Guard Administration or other relevant authorities.
Since 2018, 22 seaborne pig carcasses have tested positive for African swine fever, the center said. The latest case is the second this year, underscoring the continuing risk posed by infected carcasses washing ashore.
The agriculture ministry said the export restrictions apply to fresh, chilled and frozen pork, as well as pig intestines, feet and bones, per SETN. The ban also covers pork products made in Taiwan but sold in Kinmen if they still bear the original manufacturer's seal.
However, the Kinmen County Government said the restrictions do not apply to nine categories of processed products from cloven-hoofed animals manufactured by businesses that have passed the agriculture ministry's risk assessment, per Liberty Times.
